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THE LIBRARY OF 

CONGR£SS, 
Two Copit* RtccivEO 

JUN. 13 1901 

COPVRIOHT ENTRY 

COPY 0. 






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" Le Comte de Soissons, et le Due de Bouillon, avaient une bonne 
armee, et ils savaient la conduire ; et pour plus grande surete, tandis que 
cette arme devait s'avancer, on devait assassiner le Cardinal et faire 
soulever Paris. . . . Les Conjures faisient un traite avec I'Espagne pour 
introduire des troupes en France, et pour y mettre tout en confusion dans 
une Regence qu'on croyait prochaine, et dont chacun esperait profiler. 
. . . Richelieu avait perdu toute sa faveur, et ne conservait que I'avant- 
age d'etre necessaire. Le bonheur du Cardinal voulut encore que le 
complot fut decouvert, et qu'une copie du traite lui tombat entre les 
mains."— VoLTAiKE, Hist, Gen. 



Copyright, 1901, by David McKay. 



THE MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE, K. G. 
Etc., Etc., 

THIS DRAMA 

IS INSCRIBED, 



iN TRIBUTE TO THE TALENTS WHICH COMMAND, AND THE QUALITIES 
WHICH ENDEAR, RESPECT. 



PREFACE 

BY WILLIAM WINTER.* 

'< Richelieu; or, The Conspiracy," was written in the 
fall of 1838, and it was first acted on March 7th, 1839. Ma- 
cready — for whom, and under whose counsel it had been made 
— brought it out, at Covent Garden, London, of which theatre 
he was then the manager, and himself personated Richelieu. 
In Macready's ''Reminiscences" there are several interesting 
allusions to this subject, notable as showing in what manner 
the drift of the play was changed by the author, under the 
actor's advice, and also as showing that the text was freely cut, 
in the process of adapting it to the practical uses of the stage. 
"When I developed the whole plan of alterations," says Ma- 
cready, " the author was in ecstacy." This, evidently, was an 
instance in which the literary faculty was happily guided by an 
experienced and just dramatic instinct. In this drama, conse- 
quently, the story is told by direct action, out of which the lan- 
guage naturally flows, — tinged, it is true, with the romantic 
sentimentalism that thoroughly saturated Bulwer's thought and 

* The publisher acknowledges the kindness of Mr. William Winter and 
also the Penn Publishing Company in permitting the use of this part of the 
Introduction from the acting version of the play " Edwin Booth's Prompt- 
Book of Richelieu," edited by William Winter and published by the 
Penn Publishing Company, of Philadelphia. 
vii 



PREFACE Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

style, — and to which, for the most part, it is a spontaneous 
necessity. It appears to have been Macready's impression that 
Bulwer had drawn, under the name of RicheHeu, a character 
entirely different from the historic original ; but he records that 
Bulwer at length satisfied him as to the justice of the portrayal, 
from the evidence of history. There is no doubt, however, that 
the poet has considerably — though neither unjustly nor inartisti- 
cally — idealized the character of Richelieu. His own remarks 
upon it, in his essays upon " Self-Controul " and ** Posthumous 
Reputation," in ** Caxtoniana," illustrate this truth. "In 
Richelieu," he says, ''there was no genuine self-controul ; be- 
cause he had made his whole self the puppet of certain fixed and 
tyrannical ideas." Yet the Richelieu of this play is iron in his 
domination of self and of circumstance. In the play, moreover, 
the cruelty of the Cardinal nowhere appears, while his craft and 
vanity are much softened. He is made, in fact, the ideal hero 
of a poetical work, and he should be regarded solely in this 
light. The year of the play is indicated by the reference, in 
Act Fifth, to the loss, by Charles I., of " a battle that decides 
one-half his realm." The earliest of the Parliamentary victories 
that could with propriety be so desi;^nated was the battle of 
Marston Moor, fought on July 2d, 1644, Bulwer, it must be 
assumed, intended to take a poetic license with history, since, 
while no other battle than that is responsive to his allusion, both 
Richelieu and Louis XIII. were dead before that battle was 
fought, before any important battle had signalized the strife be- 
twixt Charles I. and the Puritans, and before Cromwell had be- 
come known. Louis XIII,, of France, reigned from 16 10 to 
1643. Richelieu died in 1642, aged 57. Cromwell, even at 
viii 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy preface 

Marston Moor, was but second in command. Richelieu, it is 
probable, never heard of him. This drama was first acted in 
America, September 4th, 1839, at Wallack's National Theatre, 
in Leonard Street, New York. Edwin Forrest was then the 
representative of the Cardinal. 

" Vivet extento Proculeius aevo, 
Notus in frates animi paterni." 

w. w. 

New York, March 9th, 1878. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

The administration of Cardinal Richelieu, whom (despite all 
his darker qualities) Voltaire and History justly consider the 
true architect of the French monarchy, and the great parent of 
French civilization, is characterized by features alike tragic and 
comic. A weak king — an ambitious favorite ; a despicable con- 
spiracy against the minister, nearly always associated with a 
dangerous treason against the State — these, with little variety of 
names and dates, constitute the eventful cycle through which, 
with a dazzling ease, and an arrogant confidence, the great 
luminary fulfilled its destinies. Blent together, in startling con- 
trast, we see the grandest achievements and the petdest agents ; 
— the spy — the mistress — the capuchin ; — the destruction of 
feudalism ; — the humiliation of Austria ; — the dismemberment 
of Spain. 

Richelieu himself is still what he was in his own day,— a man 
of two characters. If, on the one hand, he is justly represented 
as inflexible and vindictive, crafty and unscrupulous ; so, on the 
other, it cannot be denied that he was placed in times in which 
the long impunity of every license required stern examples, — 
that he was beset by perils and intrigues, which gave a certain 
excuse to the subtlest inventions of self-defence, — that his am- 
bition was inseparably connected with a passionate love for the 



PREFACE Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

glory of his country, — and that, if he was her dictator, he was 
not less her benefactor. It has been fairly remarked, by the 
most impartial historians, that he was no less generous to merit 
than severe to crime, — that, in the various departments of the 
State, the Army, and the Church, he selected and distinguished 
the ablest aspirants, — that the wars which he conducted were, 
for the most part, essential to the preservation of France, and 
Europe itself, from the formidable encroachments of the Austrian 
House, — that, in spite of those wars, the people were not op- 
pressed with exorbitant imposts, — and that he left the kingdom 
he had governed in a more flourishing and vigorous state than at 
any former period of the French history, or at the decease of 
Louis XIV. 

The cabals formed against this great statesman were not 
carried on by the patriotism of public virtue, or the emulation 
of equal talent ; they were but court struggles, in which the 
most -worthless agents had recourse to the most desperate means. 
In each, as I have before observed, we see combined the two- 
fold attempt to murder the minister and to betray the country. 
Such, then, are the agents, and such the designs with which 
truth, in the Drama as in History, requires us to contrast the 
celebrated Cardinal ; — not disguising his foibles or his vices, but 
not unjust to the grander qualities (especially the love of coun- 
try) by which they were often dignified, and, at times, re- 
deemed. 

The historical drama is the concentration of historical events. 

In the attempt to place upon the stage the picture of an era, that 

license with dates and details, which Poetry permits, and which 

the highest authorities in the drama of France herself have sanc- 

adi 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy preface 

tioned, has been, though not unsparingly, indulged. The con- 
spiracy of the Due de Bouillon is, for instance, amalgamated 
with the denouement oi The Day of Dupes ;* and circumstances 
connected with the treason of Cinq Mars ( whose brilliant youth 
and gloomy catastrophe tend to subvert poetic and historic 
justice, by seducing us to forget his base ingratitude and his 
perfidious apostasy) are identified with the fate of the earlier 
favorite, Baradas,| whose sudden rise and as sudden fall passed 
into a proverb. I ought to add, that the noble romance of 
*' Cinq Mars " suggested one of the scenes in the fifth act ; and 
that for the conception of some portion of the intrigue connected 
with De Mauprat and Julie, I am, with great alterations of in- 
cident, and considerable if not entire reconstruction of character, 
indebted to an early and admirable novel by the author of 
"Picciola."t 

* " Le Cardinal se croit perdu, et prepare sa retraite. Ses amis lui con- 
seillent de tenter enfin aupres du Roi un nouvel effort. Le Cardinal va 
trouver le Roi a Versailles. Le Roi, qui avait sacrifie son ministre par 
faiblesse, se remit par faiblesse entre ses mains, et il lui abandonne ceux qui 
I'avaient perdu. Ce jour qui est encore i present appelle La Journee des 
Dupes, fut celui du pouvoir absolu du Cardinal." — Voltaire, Hist. Gen. 

f "En six mois il (le Roi) fit (Baradas) premier Ecuyer, premier Gen- 
tilhomme de la Chambre, Capitaine de St. Germain, et Lieutenant de Roi, 
en Champagne. En moins de temps encore, on lui ota tout, et des debris 
de sa grandeur, i peine lui resta-t-il de quoi payer ses dettes : de sorte que 
pour signifier une grande fortune dissipee aussi qu'acquise on disait en 
commun proverbe, Fortune de Baradas." — Anquetil. 

\ It may be as well, however, to caution the English reader against 
some of the impressions which the eloquence of both the writers I refer to 
are calculated to leave. They have exaggerated the more evil, and have 
kept out of sight the nobler qualities of the Cardinal. 

London, March, 1839. 



PREFACE Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

NOTE. 

The length of the Play necessarily requires curtailments on 
the Stage, — the principal of which are enclosed within brackets. 
Many of the passages thus omitted, however immaterial to the 
audience, must obviously be such as the reader would be least 
inclined to dispense with, — viz., those which, without being ab- 
solutely essential to the business of the Stage, contain either the 
subtler strokes of character, or the more poetical embellishments 
of description. An important consequence of these suppressions 
is, that Richelieu himself is left, too often and too unrelievedly, 
to positions which place him in an afniable light, without that 
shadowing forth of his more sinister motives and his fiercer 
qualities, which is attempted in the written play. Thus, the 
character takes a degree of credit due only to the situation. To 
judge the Author' s conception of Richelieu fairly, and to esti- 
mate how far it is consistent with historical portraiture, the Play 
must be read. 



t 



RICHELIEU 



or 



THE CONSPIRACY 



DRAMATIS PERSONS. 

Louis the Thirteenth. 

Gaston, Duke of Orleans, brother to Louis the Thirteenth. 

'2>KRKV>KS, favorite of the King, First Gentleman of the Chamber, Pre- 
mier Eciiyer, &"€. 

Cardinal Richelieu. 

The Chevalier de Mauprat, 

The Sieur de Beringhen. /// attendance on the King,* one of the 
Conspirators. 

Joseph, a Capuchin , Richelieu's confidant . 

HuGUET, an officer of Richelieu s household guard, — a Spy. 

Francois, First Page to Richelieu. 

First Courtier. 

Captain of the Archeks. 

First, Second, Third Secretaries of State. 

Governor of the Bastile. 

Gaoler. 

Courtiers, Pages, Conspirators, Officers, Soldiers, &'c. 

Julie de Mortemar, an Orphan, zvard to Richelieu. 

Marion de Lorme, Mistress to Orleans, but in Richelieu s pay. 

* Properly speaking, the King's First Valet de Chambre, — a post of 
great importance at that time. 



RICHELIEU; 

or, 
The Conspiracy. 



ACT I. 

FIRST DAY. 



Scene I. — A room in the house of Marion dc Lornie ; a 
table towards the front of the stage {with wine, fruits, 
&^c.), at which are seated Baradas, Four Courtiers, 
splendidly dressed in the costume of 1641-2 ; — the 
Duke of Orleans reclining on a large fauteuil ; — 
Marion de Lorme standing at the back of his chair, 
offers him a goblet, and then retires. At another 
table, De Beringhen, De Maiiprat, playing at dice ; 
other Courtiers, of inferior rank to those at the table 
of the Duke, looking on. 

Orl. {drinking). Here 's to our enterprise ! — 
Bar. [glancing at Marion). Hush, Sir ! — 

Orl. (aside). Nay, Count, 

You may trust her ; she doats on me ; no house 
So safe as Marion's. *[At our statelier homes 

* (The passages enclosed in brackets are omitted in representation.) 



ACT I. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

The very walls do play the eaves-dropper. 

There 's not a sunbeam creeping o'er our floors 

But seems a glance from that malignant eye 

Which reigns o'er France ; our fatal greatness lives 

In the sharp glare of one relentless day. 

But Richelieu's self forgets to fear the sword 

The myrtle hides ; and Marion's silken robe lo 

Casts its kind charity o'er fiercer sins 

Than those which haunt the rosy path between 

The lip and eye of beauty. — Oh, no house 

So safe as Marion's.] 

Bar. Still we have a secret. 

And oil and water — woman and a secret — 
Are hostile properties. 

Orl. Well — Marion, see 

How the play prospers yonder. 
\Marion goes to the next table, looks on for a few 
jno)nents, then exit. 

Bar. {producing a parchment). I have now 

All the conditions drawn ; it only needs 
Our signatures : upon receipt of this, 
(Whereto is joined the schedule of our treaty 20 
With the Count-Duke,^ the Richeheu of the Escurial,) 
Bouillon will join his army with the Spaniard, 
March on to Paris, — there, dethrone the King : 
You will be Regent ; I, and ye, my Lords, 
Form the new Council. So much for the core 
Of our great scheme. 

2 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act i sc. i. 

Orl. But Richelieu is an Argus ; 

One of his hundred eyes will Hght upon us, 
And then — good-by to life. 

Bar. To gain the prize 

We must destroy the Argus : — ay, my Lords, 
The scroll the core, but blood must fill the veins, 30 
Of our design ; — while this despatched to Bouillon, 
Richeheu despatched to Heaven! — The last my 

charge. 
Meet here to-morrow night. You, Sir, as first 
In honor and in hope, meanwhile select 
Some trusty knave to bear the scroll to Bouillon ; 
'Midst Richelieu's foes / '// find some desperate 

hand 
To strike for vengeance, while we stride to power. 

Orl. So be it; — to-morrow, midnight. — Come, my Lords. 
\Exeunt Orleans, and the Courtiers in his train. Those 
at the other table rise, salute Orleatts, and re-seat 
themselves. 

De Ber, Double the stakes. 

De Maup. Done. 

De Ber. Bravo ; faith, it shames me 

To bleed a purse already in extremis. 40 

De Maup. Nay, as you 've had the patient to yourself 
So long, no other doctor should despatch it. 

\De Mauprat throws and loses. 

Omnes. Lost ! Ha, ha ! — poor De Mauprat ! 

De Ber. One throw more ? 

3 



ACT I. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

De Maiip. No; lam \i7>jr^x\\i^\. [^pushing gold). There 
goes all — except 

My honor and my sword. 

\_They rise. 
De Ber. Long cloaks and honor 

Went out of vogue together, when we found 

We got on much more rapidly without them ;^ 

The sword, indeed, is never out of fashion, — 

The Devil has care of that. 
First Gamester. Ay, take the sword 

To Cardinal Richelieu : — he gives gold for steel, 50 

When worn by brave men. 
De Maup. Richelieu ! 

De Ber. {to Baradas). At that name 

He changes color, bites his nether lip. 

Ev'n in his brightest moments whisper " Richelieu," 

And you cloud all his sunshine. 
Bar. I have marked it, 

And 1 will learn the wherefore. 
De Maup. The Egyptian 

Dissolved her richest jewel in a draught : 

Would I could so melt time and all its treasures. 

And drain it thus. \_Drinking. 

De Ber. Come, gentlemen, what say ye, 

A walk on the parade ? 
Omnes. Ay ; come, De Mauprat. 

De Maup. Pardon me ; we shall meet again ere night- 
fall. 60 

4 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act i. sc. i. 

Bar. I '11 stay and comfort Mauprat. 

De Ber. Comfort ! — when 

We gallant fellows have run out a friend, 
There 's nothing left — except to run him through ! 
There 's the last act of friendship. 

De Maup. Let me keep 

That favor in reserve ; in all beside 
Your most obedient servant, 

\^Exeunt De Beringhen, &^c. Manent De Mauprat 
and Baradas. 

Bar. You have lost — 

Yet are not sad. 

De Maup. Sad ! — Life and gold have wings, 

And must fly one day : — open, then, their cages 
And wish them merry. 

Bar. You 're a strange enigma : — 

Fiery in war — and yet to glory lukewarm ; 70 

All mirth in action — in repose all gloom 

These are extremes in which the unconscious heart 
Betrays the fever of deep-fixed disease. 
Confide in me ! our young days rolled together 
In the same river, glassing the same stars 
That smile i' the heaven of hope ; alike we made 
Bright-winged steeds of our unformed chimeras, 
Spurring the fancies upward to the air, 
Wherein we shaped fair castles from the cloud. 
Fortune of late has severed us — and led 80 

Me to the rank of Courtier, Count, and Favorite, — 
'2 5 



ACT I. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Vou to the titles of the wildest gallant 
And bravest knight in France ; are you content ? 
No ; — trust in me — some gloomy secret 

De Maup. Ay : — 

A secret that doth haunt me, as, of old, 
Men were possessed of fiends ! — Where'er I turn, 
The grave yawns dark before me ! — I luill trust 

you ; — 
Hating the Cardinal, and beguiled by Orleans, 
You know I joined the Languedoc revolt — 
Was captured — sent to the Bastile 

Bar. But shared 90 

The general pardon, which the Duke of Orleans 
Won for himself and all in the revolt. 
Who but obeyed his orders. 

De Maup. Note the phrase ; — 

" Obeyed /lis orders^ Well, when on my way 
To join the Duke in Languedoc, I (then 
The down upon my lip — less man than boy) 
Leading young valors, reckless as myself, 
Seized on the town of Faviaux, and displaced 
The Royal banners for the Rebel. Orleans, 
(Never too daring,) when I reached the camp, 100 
Blamed me for acting — mark — ivithout his orders ; 
Upon this quibble Richelieu razed my name 
Out of the general pardon. 

Bar. Yet released you 

From the Bastile 

6 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act i. sc. i. 

Dc Maup. To call me to his presence, 

And thus addressed me : — " You have seized a town 
Of France, without the orders of your leader, 
And for this treason, but one sentence — Death." 

Bar. Death! 

Dc Maup. " I have pity on your youth and birth, 
Nor wish to glut the headsman ; — ^join your troop, 
Now on the march against the Spaniards; — change 
The traitor's scaffold for the soldier's grave : — in 
Your memory stainless — they who shared your crime 
Exiled or dead — your king shall never learn it." 

Bar. O tender pity ! — O most charming prospect ! 
Blown into atoms by a bomb, or drilled 
Into a cullender by gunshot ! — Well .'* — 

Dc Maup. You have heard if I fought bravely. — Death 
became 
Desired as Daphne by the eager Day-god. 
Like him I chased the nymph — to grasp the laurel ! 
I could not die ! 

Bar. Poor fellow ! 

De Maup. When the Cardinal 120 

Reviewed the troops, his eye met mine ; — he frowned. 
Summoned me forth — "How's this?" quoth he; 

" you have shunned 
The sword — beware the axe! — 't will fall one day 1" 
He left me thus — we were recalled to Paris, 
And — you know all ! 

Bar. And, knowing this, why halt you, 

7 



ACT I. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Spelled by the rattlesnake, — while in the breasts 
Of your firm friends beat hearts, that vow the death 
Of your grim tyrant ? — Wake ! — Be one of us ; 
The time invites — the King detests the Cardinal, 
Dares not disgrace — but groans to be delivered 130 
Of that too great a subject — ^join your friends, 
Free France, and save yourself. 

De Maiip, Hush ! Richelieu bears 

A charmed life ; — to all, who have braved his power, 
One common end — the block. 

Bar. Nay, if he live. 

The block your doom ; — 

De Maup. Better the victim, Count, 

Than the assassin. — France requires a Richelieu, 
But does not need a Mauprat. Truce to this ; — 
All time one midnight, where my thoughts are spec- 
tres. 
What to me fame ? — What love ? — 

Bar. Yet dost thou love not ? 

De Maup. Love ? — I am young — 

Bar. And Julie fair ! {Aside.) It is so, 140 

Upon the margin of the grave — his hand 
Would pluck the rose that I would win and wear! 
l{A/oi(d.) Thou lov'st— 

De Maup. Who, lonely in the midnight tent. 

Gazed on the watch-fires in the sleepless air. 
Nor chose one star amidst the clustering hosts 
To bless it in the name of some fair face 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act i. sc. i. 

Set in his spirit, as that star in Heaven ? 
For our divine Afifections, hke the Spheres, 
Move ever, ever musical. 

^^^- You speaK' 

As one who fed on poetry. 

D^^^up- Why, man. 150 

The thoughts of lovers stir with poetry 
As leaves with summer-wind.— The heart that loves 
Dwells in an Eden, hearing angel-lutes, 
As Eve in the First Garden. Hast thou seen 
My Julie, and not felt it henceforth dull 
To live in the common world— and talk in words 
That clothe the feelings of the frigid herd ?— 
Upon the perfumed pillow of her Hps— 
As on his native bed of roses flushed 
With Paphian skies—Love smiling sleeps :— Her 

^^^^^ 160 

The blest mterpreter of thoughts as pure 
As virgin wells where Dian takes delight, 
Or Fairies dip their changehngs !— In the maze 
Of her harmonious beauties— Modesty 
(Like some severer Grace that leads the choir 
Of her sweet sisters) every airy motion 
Attunes to such chaste charm, that Passion holds 
His burning breath, and will not with a sigh 
Dissolve the spell that binds him !— Oh those eyes 
That woo the earth— shadowing more soul than lurks 
Under the lids of Psyche !— Go !— thy lip 171 

9 



ACT I. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Curls at the purfled phrases of a lover — 
Love thou, and if thy love be deep as mine, 
Thou wilt not laugh at poets. 
Bar. [aside). With each word 

Thou wak'st a jealous demon in my heart, 
And my hand clutches at my hilt, — ] 
De Maup. {^gayly). No more! — 

I love ! — Your breast holds both my secrets ; — Never 
Unbury either ! — Come, while yet we may, 
We '11 bask us in the noon of rosy life : — 
Lounge through the. gardens, — flaunt it in the tav- 
erns, — 1 80 
Laugh, — game, — drink, — feast : — If so confined my 

days, 
Faith, I '11 enclose the nights. — Pshaw ! not so grave ; 
I 'm a true Frenchman ! — Vive la bagatelle ! 

\_As they are goitig out, enter Htiguet and four 
Arquebusiers. 
Hug. Messire De Mauprat, I arrest you ! — Follow 

To the Lord Cardinal. 
De Maup. You see, my friend, 

I 'm out of my suspense ! — the tiger 's played 
Long enough with his prey. — Farewell ! — Hereafter 
Say, when men name me, " Adrien de Mauprat 
Lived without hope, and perished without fear !" 

\Excu7it De Mauprat y Huguet, &^c. 
Bar. Farewell ! — I trust for ever ! I designed thee 190 

For Richelieu's murderer but, as well his martyr ! 

10 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act i. sc. 2. 

In childhood you the stronger — and I cursed you ; 
In youth the fairer — and I cursed you still ; 
And now my rival ! — While the name of Julie 
Hung on thy lips — I smiled — for then I saw, 
In my mind's eye, the cold and grinning Death 
Hang o'er thy head the pall ! — Ambition, Love, 
Ye twin-born stars of daring destinies, 
Sit in my house of Life ! — By the King's aid 
I will be Julie's husband — in despite 2cx) 

Of my Lord Cardinal ! — by the King's aid 
I will be minister of France — in spite 
Of my Lord Cardinal ! — And then — what then ? 
The King loves Julie — feeble Prince — false master — 
\Producmg and gazing on the parchment. 
Then, by the aid of Bouillon and the Spaniard, 
I will dethrone the King ; and all — ha ! — ha ! — 
All, in despite of my Lord Cardinal ! 

{Exit. 
SCENE 11. 

A roo7n in the Palais Cardinal, the walls hung with 
arras. A large screen in one corner. A table cov- 
ered with books, papers, tSr^c. A rude clock in a re- 
cess. Busts, statttes, book-cases, weapons of different 
periods and banners suspended over Richelieu' s 
chair. 

Richelieu and Joseph. 

Rich. And so you think this new conspiracy 

The craftiest trap yet laid for the old fox ? 

II 



ACT 1 sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Fox ! — Well, 1 like the nickname ! — What did Plu- 
tarch 
Say of the Greek Lysander ? 

Jos. I forget. 

J\/i/i. That where the lion's skin fell short, he eked it 
Out with the fox's ! A great statesman, Joseph, 
That same Lysander ! 

Jos. Orleans heads the traitors. 

R/r/i. A very wooden head then ! Well ? 

Jos. The favorite, 

Count Baradas — 

Rit/i. A weed of hasty growth ; 

First gentleman of the chamber — titles, lands, lo 
And the King's ear ! — It cost me six long winters 
To mount as high, as in six little moons 

This painted lizard But I hold the ladder. 

And when I shake — he falls ! W" hat more ? 

Jos. A scheme 

To make your orphan-ward an instrument 
To aid your foes. You placed her with the Queen, 
One of the royal chamber, — as a watch 
r th' enemy's quarters — 

Ric/i. And the silly child 

Visits me daily, — calls me " Father," — prays 
Kind Heaven to bless me — And for all the rest, 20 
As well have placed a doll about the Queen ! 
She does not heed who frowns — who smiles ; with 
whom 

12 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act i. sc. 2. 

The King confers in whispers ; notes not when 

Men who last week Avere foes, are found in corners 

Mysteriously affectionate ; words spoken 

Within closed doors she never heais ; — by chance 

Taking the air at keyholes— Senseless puppet ! 

No ears — nor eyes ! — and yet she says — " She loves 

me !" 

Go on 

Jos. Your ward has charmed the King 

Rich. Out on you ! 

Have I not, one by one, from such fair shoots 30 
Plucked the insidious ivy of his love ? 
And shall it creep around my blossoming tree, 
Where innocent thoughts, like happy birds, make 

music 
That spirits in Heaven might hear ? — They 're sinful 

too, 
Those passionate surfeits of the rampant flesh. 
The Church condemns them ; and to us, my Joseph, 
The props and pillars of the Church, most hurtful. 
The King is weak — whoever the King loves 
Must rule the King ; the lady loves another. 
The other rules the lady — thus we 're balked 40 

Of our own proper sway — The King must have 
No goddess but the State : — the State — That 's 
Richelieu ! 
Jos. This not the worst ; — Louis, in all decorous. 
And deeming you her least compliant guardian, 
13 



ACT I. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Would veil his suit by marriage with his minion, 

Your prosperous foe, Count Baradas ! 
Rich. Ha! ha! 

I have another bride for Baradas. 
Jos. You, my Lord ? 
Rich. Ay — more faithful than the love 

Of fickle woman : — when the head lies lowliest, 

Clasping him fondest ; — Sorrow never knew 50 

So sure a soother, — and her bed is stainless ! 
Jos. {aside). If of the grave he speaks, I do not wonder 

That priests are bachelors ! 

Enter F7'ancois. 
Fran. Mademoiselle De Mortemar. 

Rich. Most opportune — admit her. \^Exit Francois, 

In my closet 
Ynii '11 find a rosary, Joseph ; ere you tell 
Three hundred beads, I '11 summon you. — Stay, 

Joseph ; — 
I did omit an Ave in my matins, — 
A grievous fault ; — atone it for me, Joseph ; 
There is a scourge within ; I am weak, you strong. 
It were but charity to take my sin 60 

On such broad shoulders. Exercise is healthful. 
Jos. I ! guilty of such criminal presumption 
As to mistake myself for you — No, never ! 
Think it not ! — [Aside.) Troth, a pleasant invitation ! 

\Exit Joseph. 
14 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act i. sc. a. 

Enter Julie De Morteinar. 

Rich. That 's my sweet Julie ! — why, upon this face 

Blushes such daybreak, one might swear the Morn- 
ing 
Were come to visit Tithon. 

Jul. {placing herself at his feet). Are you gracious ? — 
May I say "Father ?" 

Rich. Now and ever ! 

Jtil. Father ! 

A sweet word to an orphan. 

Rich. No ; not orphan 

While Richelieu lives ; thy father loved me well ; 70 
My friend, ere I had flatterers (now, I 'm great. 
In other phrase, I 'm friendless)— he died young 
In years, not service, and bequeathed thee to me; 
And thou shalt have a dowry, girl, to buy 
Thy mate amidst the mightiest. Drooping ? — sighs ? 
Art thou not happy at the court ? 

Jul. Not often. 

Rich, [aside). Can she love Baradas ? — Ah ! at thy heart 
There 's what can smile and sigh, blush and grow 

pale, 
All in a breath ? — Thou art admired — art young ; 
Does not his Majesty commend thy beauty — 
Ask thee to sing to him ? — and swear such sounds 80 
Had smoothed the brows of Saul ? — 

Jtil. He 's very tiresome, 

Our worthy King. 

15 



ACT 1. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Rii/i. Fie ! kings are never tiresome. 

Save to their ministers. — What courtly i^allants 

Charm Ladies most? — De Sourdiac, Longueville, or 

The favorite Baradas ? 
_////. A smileless man — 

1 fear and shun him. 
Kii'/i. Yet he courts thee ? 

Jul. Then 

He is more tiresome than his Majesty. 
Rii/i. Right, girl, shun Baradas. — Yet of these flowers 

Of France, not one, in whose more honeyed breath 

Thy heart hears Summer whisper ? 

Enter /fiii^iu-f. 
Hitg. The Chevalier 90 

I)e Mauprat waits below. 
////. {startuii^- up). De Mauprat ! 

Rich. Hem ! 

He has been tiresome too ! — Anon. 

{Exit Hiignct. 
Jul. What doth he .?— 

1 mean — 1 — Does your Eminence — that is — 
Know you Messire de Mauprat .? 

Rich. Well ! — and you 

Has he addressed you often ? 
Jul. Often !— No- 

Nine times ; nay, ten ; — the last time, by the lattice 
Of the great staircase. — \In a mcla?icholy tone.) The 
Court sees him rarely. 
16 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act i. sc. 2. 

Rich. A bold and forward royster ? 

Jul. He? — nay, modest, 

Gentle, and sad, rnethinks. 
Rich. Wears gold and azure ? 

Jul. No ; sable. 
Rich. So you note his colors, Julie ? 100 

Shame on you, child ; look loftier. By the mass, 

I have business with this modest gentleman. 
Jul. You 're angry with poor Julie. There 's no cause. 
Rich. No cause — you hate my foes ? 
Jul. I do ! 

Rich. Hate Mauprat ? 

Jul. Not Mauprat. No, not Adrien, father. 
Rich. Adrien ! 

Familiar ! — Go, child ; no, — not that way ; — wait 

In the tapestry chamber; I will join you, — go. 
Jul. His brows are knit ; — I dare not call him father ! 

But I must speak — Your Eminence 

Rich, {sternly). Well, girl ! 

Jul. Nay, 

Smile on me — one smile more ; there, now I 'm 
happy. 1 1 1 

Do not rank Mauprat with your foes ; he is not, 

I know he is not ; he loves France too well. 
Rich. Not rank De Mauprat with my foes ? So be it. 

I '11 blot him from that list. 
Jul. That 's my own father. 

[^Exit Julie. 
17 



ACT I. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

J^ic/i. {ringing a small bell on the table.') Huguet ! 
Enter Hiiguet. 
De Mauprat struggled not, nor murmured ? 

Hug. No ; proud and passive. 

Rich. Bid him enter. — Hold: 

Look that he hide no weapon. Humph, despair 
Makes victims sometimes victors. When he has 

entered 
GHde round unseen ; — place thyself yonder {point- 
ing to the screen ) ; watch him ; 
If he show violence — (let me see thy carbine ; 120 
So, a good weapon ;) — if he play the lion, 
Why — the dog's death. 

Hug. I never miss my mark. 

\_Exit Huguet ; Richelieu seats himself at the table, and 
sloivly arranges the papers before hifn. Enter De 
Mauprat preceded by Huguet, who then retires be- 
hind the screen. 

Rich. Approach, Sir. — Can you call to mind the hour, 
Now three years since, when in this room, methinks. 
Your presence honored me ? 

De Maup. It is, my Lord, 

One of my most 

Rich, {dryly). Delightful recollections. 

De Maup. {aside). St. Denis ! doth he make a jest of axe 
And headsman ? 

Rich, {sternly.) I did then accord you 

A mercy ill requited — you still live ! 
18 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act i. so. 2. 

De Maup. To meet death face to face at last, 

\^Rich. Your words 130 

Are bold. 

De Maup. My deeds have not belied them. 

Rich. Deeds ! 

O miserable delusion of man's pride ! 
\ Deeds ! cities sacked, fields ravaged, hearths pro- 

faned, 
Men butchered ! In your hour of doom behold 
The deeds you boast of ! From rank showers of blood, 
And the red hght of blazing roofs, you build 
The Rainbow Glory, and to shuddering Conscience 
Cry, — Lo, the Bridge to Heaven ! 

De Maup. If war be sinful, 

Your hand the gauntlet cast. 

Rich. It was so, Sir. 

Note the distinction : — I weighed well the cause 140 
Which made the standard holy ; raised the war 
But to secuje the peace. France bled — I groaned. 
But looked beyond ; and, in the vista, saw 
France saved, and I exulted. You — but you 
Were but the tool of slaughter — knowing naught. 
Foreseeing naught, naught hoping, naught lament- 
ing. 
And for naught fit — save cutting throats for hire. 
Deeds, marry, deeds ! 

De Maup. If you would deign to speak 

Thus to your armies ere they march to battle, 
19 



ACT I. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Perchance your Eminence might have the pain 150 
Of the throat-cutting to yourself. 

Rich, {aside). He has wit, 

This Mauprat — {Aloud.) Let it pass ; there is 

against you 
What you can less excuse.] Messire de Mauprat, 
Doomed to sure death, how hast thou since consumed 
The time allotted thee for serious thought 
And solemn penitence ? 

De Maup. {embarrassed). The time, my Lord ? 

Rich. Is not the question plain ? I '11 answer for thee. 
Thou hast sought nor priest nor shrine : no sack- 
cloth chafed 
Thy delicate flesh. The rosary and the death's-head 
Have not, with pious meditation, purged 160 

Earth from the carnal gaze. What thou hast 7iot 

done 
Brief told ; what done, a volume ! Wild debauch, 
Turbulent riot : — for the morn the dice box — 
Noon claimed the duel — and the night the wassail ; 
These, your most holy, pure preparatives 
For death and judgment. Do I wrong you, Sir.-* 

De Maup. I was not always thus : — if changed my nature, 
Blame that which changed my fate. — Alas, my Lord, 
[There is a brotherhood which calm-eyed Reason 
Can wot not of betwixt Despair and Mirth. 170 

My birth-place 'mid the vines of sunny Provence, 
Perchance the stream that sparkles in my veins 
20 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act i. sc. 2. 

Came from that wine of passionate life which, erst, 
Glowed in the wild heart of the Troubadour : 
And danger, which makes steadier courage wary, 
But fevers me with an insane delight ; 
As one of old who on the mountain crags 
Caught madness from a Maenad's haunting eyes. 
Were you, my Lord, — whose path imperial power. 
And the grave cares of reverent wisdom, guard 180 
From all that tempts to folly meaner men, — ] 
Were you accursed with that which you inflicted — 
By bed and board, dogged by one ghastly spectre — 
The while within you youth beat high, and life 
Grew lovelier from the neighboring frown of death — 
The heart no bud, nor fruit — save in those seeds 
Most worthless, which spring up, bloom, bear, and 

wither 
In the same hour — Were this your fate, perchance 
You would have erred like me ! 

Rich. I might, like you, 

Have been a brawler and a reveller ; — not, 190 

Like you, a trickster and a thief. — 

De Maup. {advancijig threateningly). Lord Cardinal ! 
Unsay those words ! — 

l^Hugtiet deliberately raises the carbine. 

Rich, {zvaving his hand). Not quite so quick, friend 
Huguct ; 
Messire de Mauprat is a patient man. 
And he can wait ! — 
3 21 



ACT I. sc. a. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

You have outrun your fortune ; — 
I blame you not, that you would be a beggar — 
Each to his taste ! — But I do charge you, Sir, 
That, being beggared, you would coin false moneys 
Out of that crucible, called debt. — To live 
On means not yours — be brave in silks and laces, 
Gallant in steeds — splendid in banquets ; — all 200 
Not yours — ungiven — uninherited — unpaid for ; — 
T/iz's is to be a trickster ; and to filch 
Men's art and labor, which to them is wealth, 
Life, daily bread, — quitting all scores with — " Friend, 
You 're troublesome !" — Why this, forgive me, 
Is what — when done with less dainty grace — 
Plain folks call " Theft F' — You owe eight thousand 

pistoles 
Minus one crown, two liards ! 

De Maup. {aside). The old conjurer! — 

'Sdeath, he '11 inform me next how many cups 
I drank at dinner ! — 

Rich. This is scandalous, 210 

Shaming your birth and blood. 1 tell you. Sir, 

That you must pay your debts. — 

De Maup. With all my heart. 

My Lord. — Where shall I borrow, then, the money .^ 

Rich, [aside and laughing). A humorous dare-devil ! — 
The very man 
To suit my purpose — ready, frank, and b(^ld ! 

{Rising an earnestly. 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act i. sc. 2. 

Adrien de Mauprat, men have called me cruel ; — 
I am not; — \2im.jiist! — I found France rent asun- 
der, — 
The rich men despots, and the poor banditti ; — 
Sloth in the mart, and schism within the temple ; 
Brawls festering to Rebellion ; and weak Laws 220 
t Rotting away with rust in antique sheaths. — 

I have re-created France ; and, from the ashes 
Of the old feudal and decrepit carcase, 
Civilization on her luminous wings 
Soars, phcenix-like, to Jove ! — What was my art ? 
Genius, some say, — some, Fortune, — Witchcraft 
some. 
^ Not so ; — my art was Justice ! — Force and Fraud 

Misname it cruelty — you shall confute them ! 
My champion you ! — You met me as your foe, 
Depart my friend — You shall not die. — France 
needs you. 230 

You shall wipe off all stains, — be rich, be honored, 

Be great. 

[Z><? Mauprat falls on his knee — Richelieu raises him. 
I ask, Sir, in return, this hand, 
To gift it with a bride, whose dower shall match, 
Yet not exceed, her beauty. 
De Maup. I, my Lord, — {hesitating) 

I have no wish to marry. 
Rich. Surely, Sir, 

To d^ were worse. 

23 



ACT 1 sc 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

/)r Miuif'. Si ;iricly ; the poorest coward 

Miiht ilic, — but knowingly to march to inaniai^e — 
My Loril, it asks the courage of a lion ! 

Rii/i. Triiitor, Ihou trillest with me! — I know a/l ! 
Thou hast chircil to love my ward — my charge. 

n,- Mitif/). As rivers 240 

May lo\ c the suiiliL;hl -haskiiii; in the beams, 
And hui r ying on ! - 

AV,7/. Thou hast toUl her of thy love? 

Ih- Man/'. My Lord, if I had ilarcd to hue a maiil. 

Lowhest in I'lance, I wouM not so have wronged her, 
As bid her hnk rich life and virgin hope 
With one. the ileathman's gripe might, from her side. 
Thick at the nuptial altar. 

AV,//. 1 believe thee ; 

Net siiu e she knows not of thy U)ve, renounce her; — 
Take lifi' and fortune with another! — Silent? 

Pr MaiifK \o\\\ fate has been one liimnph — ^'ou know 
not 
Mow blessetl a thing it was in \ws ilark hour 250 
lo mnsc the one sweet thought you bitl me banish. 
Love hath no need of words ; — nor less within 
That hiUiest temple— the lleaven-builded soul — 
Breaths the recorded vow.- — r>ase knight — false lover 
Were he, who bartered all that brightened grief, 
Or sanctified ilcspair, tor life and gold. 
Revoke your mercy ; 1 prefer the fate 
I looked for ! 

-4 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act i. sc 2. 

» 

l\i( It. Iluj^iicl ! lo the Inpcstry clKiiiiber 

Conduct your |)iis()ner. ( To A/aitprd/.) 

You will there behold 260 
The executioner : — your doom he jirivate — 
And Heaven have mercy on you ! — 
Dc Maup. When I :iin i\iiM\, 

Tell her, I loved her. 
RicJi. Kee[) such follies, Sir, 

l"'or ritt(.'r ears ; — ^o — 
J)r MiUip. Does he mock me? 

\ I'lxcunt J)t' Maupial, I liiv;ui't. 
RicJi. Joseph ! 

Come fortli. 

hjifrr JosrpJi. 

Mcthinks your cheek halli lost its rubies; 
1 fear you liave been too lavish of the flesh ; 
The scourge is heavy. 

Jos. Pray you, change the subject. 

Ri( /i. You good men arc so modest— Well, to business ! 
Co instantly — deeds — notaries ! — bid my stewards 
Arrange my house Ijy the Luxembourg — my house 
No more ! — a l)ridal present to my ward, 271 

Who weds to-morrow. 

Jos. Weds, with whom ? 

Rich, De Mauprat. 

Jos. Penniless husband ! 

Rich. Bah ! the mate for beauty 

Should be a man, and not a money-chest ! 

25 



ACT 1 sc 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

When her hvave sire lay on his bed of death, 
1 vowed to be a father to his Juhe : — 
And so he died — the smile upon his lips ! — 
And when I spared the life of her young- lover, 
Methought I saw that smile again ! — Who else, 
Look you, in all the court — who else so well 280 

Brave or supplant the favorite; — balk the King — 
Baffle their schemes ? — 1 have tried him : — He has 

honor 
And courage ; — qualities that eagle-plume 
Men's souls, — and fit them for the fiercest sun. 
Which ever melted the weak waxen minds 
That flutter in the beams of gaudy Power ! 
Besides, he has taste, this Mauprat : — When my 

play 
Was acted to dull tiers of lifeless gapers," 
Who had no soul for poetry, I saw him 
Applaud in the proper places ; — trust me. Joseph, 290 
He is a man of an uncommon promise ! 

/os. And yet your foe. 

Tv/r//. Have 1 not foes enow ? — 

Great men gain tloubly when they make foes friends. 
Remember my grand maxims : — First employ 
All methods to conciliate,* 

Jifs. Failing these ? 

AVr//. {/irnr/}'). All means to crush : as with the open- 
ing and 
The clenching of this little hand, I will 
26 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act i. sc. 2. 

Crush the small venom of these stinging courtiers. 

So, so, we 've baffled Bacadas. 
Jos. And when 

Check the conspiracy ? 
Rich. Check, check ? Full way to it. 300 

Let it bud, ripen, flaunt i' the day, and burst 

To fruit, — the Dead Sea's fruit of ashes ; ashes 

Which I will scatter to the winds. 

Go, Joseph ; 

When you return I have a feast for you ; 

The last great act of my great play : the verses, 

Methinks, are fine, — ah, very fine. — You write 

Verses !^ — [aside) such verses ! — You have wit, dis- 
cernment. 
Jos. {aside). Worse than the scourge ! Strange that so 
great a statesman 

Should be so bad a poet. 
Rich. What dost thou say ? 

Jos. That it is strange so great a statesman should 310 

Be so sublime a poet. 
Rich. Ah, you rogue; 

Laws die. Books never. Of my ministry 

I am not vain ! but of my muse, I own it. 

Come, you shall hear the verses now. 

[ Takes up a MS. 
Jos. My Lord, 

The deeds, the notaries ! 
Rich. True, I pity you ; 

But business first, then pleasure. \^Exit Joseph. 

27 



ACT I. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Rich, [^scats himself ajid reading). Ah, sublime ! 

Elite}' De Maiiprat and Julie. 
De Maiip. Oh, speak, my Lord — I dare not think you 
mock me. 

And yet 

Rich. Hush — hush — This hne must be considered ! 

Jiii. Are we not both your children ? 

Rich. What a couplet ! 

How now ! Oh ! Sir — you live ! 
De Maup. Why, no, methinks, 320 

Elysium is not life ! 
Jul. He smiles ! — you smile, 

My father ! From my heart for ever now 

I '11 blot the name of orphan ! 
Rich. Rise, my children, 

For ye are mine — mine both ; — and in your sweet 

And young delight — your love — (life's first-born 
glory) 

My own lost youth breathes musical ! 
De Maup. I '11 seek 

Temple and priest henceforward ; — were it but 

To learn Heaven's choicest blessings. 
Rich. Thou shalt seek 

Temple and priest right soon ; the morrow's sun 

Shall see thee across these barren thresholds pass 

The fairest bride in Paris. — Go, my children ; 331 

Even / loved once ! — Be lovers while ye may ! 
28 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act i. sc. 2. 

How is it with you, Sir ? You bear it bravely : 
You know, it asks the courage of a lion. 

\Exeunt Julie and De Mauprat. 
Rich. Oh ! godlike Power ! Woe, Rapture, Penury, 
Wealth,— 
Marriage and Death, for one infirm old man 
> Through a great empire to dispense — withhold — 

As the will whispers ! And shall things — like motes 
That live in my daylight — lackeys of court wages, 
Dwarfed starvelings — manikins, upon whose shoul- 
ders 340 
The burden of a province were a load 
More heavy than the globe on Atlas, — cast 
Lots for my robes and sceptre ? France ! I love thee ! 
All Earth shall never pluck thee from my heart ! 
My mistress France — my wedded wife, — sweet 

France, 
Who shall proclaim divorce for thee and me ! 

\Exit Richelieu. 



29 



ACT II. sc. 1. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 



ACT II. 

SECOND DAY. 

Scene I. — A splendid apartment in Maupraf s new 
Hotise. Cascinoits openijig to the Gardens, beyond 
which the domes of the Luxembourg Palace. 

E7iter Baradas. 
Bar. Mauprat's new home: — too splendid for a soldier ! 
But o'er his floors — the while I stalk — methinks 
My shadow spreads gigantic to the gloom 
The old rude towers of the Bastile cast far 
Along the smoothness of the jocund day. — 
Well, thou hast 'scaped the fierce caprice of Riche- 
lieu ; 
But art thou farther from the headsman, fool ? 
Thy secret I have whispered to the King ; — 
Thy marriage makes the King thy foe. — Thou 

stand' st 
On the abyss — and in the pool below lo 

I see a ghastly, headless phantom mirrored ; — 
Thy likeness ere the marriage moon hath waned. 
Meanwhile — meanwhile — ha — ha, if thou art wedded. 
Thou art not wived. 

30 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act ii. sc. i. 

Enter Mattprat {splendidly dressed''^. 
De Maup. Was ever fate like mine ? 

So blest, and yet so wretched ! 
Bar. Joy, De Mauprat ! — 

Why, what a brow, man, for your wedding day ! 
De Maup. Jest not ! — Distraction ! 
Bar. What, your wife a shrew 

Already ? Courage, man — the common lot ! 
De Maup. Oh ! that she were less lovely, or less loved ! 
Bar. Riddles again ! 
De Maup. You know what chanced between 20 

The Cardinal and myself. 
Bar. This morning brought 

Your letter : — faith, a strange account ! I laughed 

And wept at once for gladness. 
De Maup. We were wed 

At noon ; —the rite performed, came hither ; — scarce 

Arrived, when 

Bar. Well ?— 

De Maup. Wide flew the doors, and lo, 

Messire de Beringhen, and this epistle ! 
Bar. 'T is the King's hand ! — the royal seal ! 
De Maup. Read — read — 

Bar. {reading). " Whereas Adrien de Mauprat, 

Colonel and Chevalier in our armies, being 

already guilty of High Treason, by the seizure 30 

of our town of Faviaux, has presumed, without 

our knowledge, consent, or sanction, to connect 
31 



ACT II. sc. I Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

himself by marriage with Juhe de Mortemar, a 
wealthy orphan attached to the person of Her 
Majesty, without our knowledge or consent — 
We do hereby proclaim and declare the said 
marriage contrary to law. On penalty of death, 
Adrien de Mauprat will not communicate with 
the said Julie de Mortemar by word or letter, 
save in the presence of our faithful servant the 40 
Sieur de Beringhen, and then with such respect 
and decorum as are due to a Demoiselle attached 
to the Court of France, until such time as it may 
suit our royal pleasure to confer with the Holy 
Church on the formal annulment of the marriage, 
and with our Council on the punishment to be 
awarded to Messire de Mauprat, who is cautioned 
for his own sake to preserve silence as to our 
injunction, more especially to Mademoiselle de 
Mortemar. 50 

" Given under our hand and seal at the Louvre. 

" Louis." 

Bar. {returning the letter). Amazement ! — Did not 
Richelieu say, the King 
Knew not your crime ? 

De Maiip. He said so. 

Bar. Poor De Mauprat ! — 

See you the snare, the vengeance worse than death. 
Of which you are the victim ? 

De Maup. Ha ! 

32 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act ii. sc. i. 

Bar. {aside). It works ! 

\_Julie and De Beringhen in the Gardens. 

You have not sought the Cardinal yet to 

De Maup. No ! 

Scarce yet my sense awakened from the shock ; 

Now I will seek him. 
Bar. Hold, beware ! — Stir not 

Till we confer again. 
De Maup. Speak out, man ! — 

Bar. Hush ! 

Your wife ! — De Beringhen ! — Be on your guard 60 

Obey the royal orders to the letter. 

I '11 look around your palace. By my troth 

A princely mansion ! 

De Maup. Stay 

Bar. So new a bridegroom 

Can want no visitors ; — Your servant, Madam ! 

Oh ! happy pair — Oh ! charming picture ! 

[^Exit through a side-door. 
Jul. Adrien, 

You left us suddenly — Are you not well ? 
De Maup. Oh, very well — that is — extremely ill ! 
Jul. Ill, Adrien ? [ Taking his hand. 

De Maup. Not when I see thee. 

\He is about to lift her hand to his lips when De Ber- 
inghen coughs and pulls his mantle. Mauprat 
drops the hand and walks away. 
Jul. Alas ! 

Should he not love me ? 



ACT II. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

De Ber. {aside). Have a care ; I must 

Report each word — each gesture to his Majesty. 70 
De Maitp. Sir, if you were not in his Majesty's service, 

You 'd be the most officious, impudent, 

Damned busy-body ever interfering 

In a man's family affairs. 
De Ber. But as 

I do belong, Sir, to his Majesty — 
De Maup. You 're lucky ! — Still, were we a story higher. 

'T were prudent not to go too near the window. 
Jul. Adrian, what have I done ? Say, am I changed 

Since yesterday ? — or was it but for wealth, 

AmlDition, life — that — that — you swore you loved 
me ? 80 

De Maup. I shall go mad ! — I do, indeed I do — 
De Ber. {aside). Not love her! that were highly dis- 
respectful. 
////. You do — what, Adrien .'' 
De Maup. Oh ! 1 do, indeed 

I do think, that this weather is delightful ! 

A charming day ! the sky is so serene ! 

And what a prospect ! — {to De Bering/ien) — Oh ! you 
Popinjay ! 
Jul. He jests at me ! — he mocks me ! — yet I love him. 

And every look becomes the lips we love ! 

Perhaps I am too grave ? — You laugh at Julie ; 

If laughter pleases you, welcome be the music I 90 

Only say, Adrien, that you love me. 
34 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act ii. sc. i. 

De Maup. {kissing her hand). Ay ; 

With my whole heart I love you ! 

Now, Sir, go. 
And tell that to his Majesty ! — Who ever 
Heard of its being a state offence to kiss 
The hand of one's own wife ? 
Jul. He says he loves me, 

And starts away, as if to say " I love you " 
Meant something very dreadful. — Come, sit by 

me, — 
I place your chair ! — fie on your gallantry ! 

[ They sit down ; as he pushes his chair back, she 
draws hers nearer. 
Why must this strange Messire de Beringhen 
Be always here ? He never takes a hint. loo 

Do you not wish him gone ? 
De Maup. Upon my soul 

I do, my Julie ! — Send him for your bouquet. 
Your glove, your — anything. 
Jul. Messire de Beringhen, 

I dropped my glove in the gardens by the foun- 
tain, 
Or the alcove, or — stay — no, by the statue 

Of Cupid ; may I ask you to 

De Ber. To send for it ? 

Certainly {ringing a bell on the table). And;c, 

Pierre, (your rascals, how 
Do ye call them ?) 

35 



ACT II. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Enter Servants. 

Ah — Madame has dropped her glove 
In the gardens, by the fountain, — or the alcove ; 
Or — stay — no, by the statue — eh ? — of Cupid. no 
Bring it. 
De Maup. Did ever now one pair of shoulders 

Carry such wagon-loads of impudence 
Into a gentleman's drawing-room ? 

Dear Julie, 
I 'm busy — letters — visitors — the devil ! 
I do beseech you leave me — I say — leave me. 
Jul. {weeping). You are unkind. \^Exit. 

\_As she goes out, Maiiprat drops on one knee and 
kisses the hem of her mantle, unseen by her. 

De Ber. Ten million of apologies 

De Maup. I '11 not take one of them. I have, as yet, 
Withstood all things — my heart — my love — my 
rights. 

But Julie's tears ! When is this farce to end ? 

De Ber. Oh ! when you please. His Majesty requests 
me, 1 20 

As soon as you infringe his gracious orders. 
To introduce you to the Governor 
Of the Bastile. I should have had that honor 
Before, but, 'gad, my foible is good-nature ; 
One can't be hard upon a friend's infirmities. 
De Maiip. I know the King can send me to the scaffold — 
Dark prospect ! — but I 'm used to it ; and if 
36 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act ii. sc. i. 

The Church and Council, by this hour to-morrow, 
One way or other settle not the matter, 
I will— 

De Ber. What, my dear Sir ? 

De Maiip. Show you the door, 130 

My dear, dear Sir ; talk as I please, with whom 
I please, in my own house, dear Sir, until 
His Majesty shall condescend to find 
A stouter gentleman than you, dear Sir, 
To take me out ; and now you understand me, 
My dear, most dear — Oh, damnably dear Sir ! 

De Ber. What, almost in a passion ! you will cool 
Upon reflection. Well, since Madame 's absent, 
I '11 take a small refreshment. Now, don't stir ; 
Be careful ; — how 's your burgundy ? — I '11 taste it ; 
Finish it all before I leave you. Nay, 141 

No form ; — you see I make myself at home. 

^Exit De Beringhen. 

De Maup. ( going to the door through which Baradas 
had passed). Baradas! Count! 

Enter Baradas. 

You spoke of snares — of vengeance 
Sharper than death — be plainer. 
Bar. What so clear ? 

Richelieu has but two passions 

De Maup. Richelieu ! 

4 37 



ACT II. sc I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Bar. Yes ! 

AmlMtion .md rcvcnj:jc — in yon both blended. 
I'^irst for Ambition — Julie is his ward, 
Innocent — docile — pliant to his will — 
lie placed her at the court — foresaw the rest — 
The Kint; loves Julie ! 

/V Maup. Merciful Heaven ! The King ! 1 50 

Bar. Such Cupids lend new plumes to Richelieu's wings: 
Hut the court etiquette must give such Cupids 
The veil of Hymen — (Hymen but in name). 
I Ic looked abroad — found you his foe : — thus served 
Ambition — by the grandeur of his ward, 
And vengeance — by dishonor to his foe ! 

Dt' ]\Iaup, Prove this. 

Bar. You have the proof — the royal Letter : — 

Your strange exemption from the general pardon. 
Known but to me and Richelieu ; can you doubt 
Your friend to acquit your foe ? The truth is glar- 
ing — 160 
Richelieu alone could tell the princely Lover 
The tale which sells your life, — or buys your honor! 

Dt' IMaup. 1 see it all !— Mock pardon — hurried nup- 
tials- 
False bounty ! — all ! — the serpent of that smile ! 
(Ml ! it stings home ! 

Bar. You yet shall crush his malice ; 

Our plans are sure: — Orleans is at our head ; 
We meet to-night ; join us, and with us triumph. 
3^S 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act ii. sc.i. 

Dc Maup. Tfl-iiigJit ? Oh Heaven ! — my marriage 

night ! — Revenge ! 
Bar. [What class of men, whose white hps do not curse 
The glim, insatiate, universal tyrant ? 170 

We, noble-born — where are our antique rights — 
Our feudal seigniories — our castled strength. 
That did divide us from the base Plebeians, 
And made our swords our law — where are they ? — 

trod 
To dust — and o'er the graves of our dead power 
Scaffolds are monuments — the Kingly House 
Shorn of its beams — the Royal Sun of France 
'Clipsed by this blood-red comet. Where we 

turn. 
Nothing but Richelieu ! — Armies — Church — State — 

Laws, 
But mirrors that do multiply his beams. 180 

He sees all — acts all — Argus and Briaraius — 
Spy at our boards — and deathsman at our hearths, 
Under the venom of one laidly nightshade, 
Wither the lilies of all France. 
De Maup. {impatiently). But Julie — 

Bar. {iinheedini!^ hint). As yet the Fiend that serves hath 

saved his power 
From every snare; and in the epitaphs 
Of many victims dwells a warning moral 
That preaches caution. Were 1 not assured 
That what before was hope is ripened now 
39 



ACT II. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Into most certain safety, trust me, Mauprat, 190 

I still could hush my hate and mark thy wrongs, 
And say, "Be patient!" — Now, the King him- 
self 
Smiles kindly when I tell him that his peers 
Will rid him of his Priest. You knit your brows, 
Noble impatience ! — Pass we to our scheme !] 
'T is Richelieu's wont, each morn, within his 

chapel, 
(Hypocrite worship ended,) to dispense 
Alms to the Mendicant friars, — in that guise 
A band (yourself the leader) shall surround 
And seize the despot. 

De Maup. But the King ? — but Julie ? 200 

Bar. The King, infirm in health, in mind more feeble, 
Is but the plaything of a Minister's will. 
Were Richelieu dead — his power were mine ; and 

Louis 
Soon should forget his passion and your crime. 
But whither now ? 

De Maup. I know not : I scarce hear thee ; 

A httle while for thought : anon I '11 join thee ; 
But now, all air seems tainted, and I loathe 
The face of man ! 

\Exit De Mauprat through the Gardens. 

Bar. Start from the chase, my prey, 

But as thou speed'st, the hell-hounds of Revenge 
Pant in thy track and dog thee down. 
40 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act ii. sc. i. 

Enter De Beringhen, his mouth full, a napkm in his hand. 

De Ber. Chevalier, 210 

Your cook 's a miracle, — what, my Host gone ? 
Faith, Count, my office is a post of danger — 
A fiery fellow, Mauprat ! touch and go, — 
Match and saltpetre, — pr — r — r — r — ! 

Bar. You 

Will be released erelong. The King resolves 
To call the bride to court this day. 

De Ber. Poor Mauprat ! 

Yet, svsxzt. you love the lady, why so careless 
Of the King's suit ? 

Bar. Because the lady 's virtuous, 

And the King timid. Ere he win the suit 
He '11 lose the crown, — the bride will be a widow, — 
And I — the Richelieu of the Regent Orleans. 221 

De Ber. Is Louis still so chafed against the Fox 
For snatching yon fair dainty from the Lion ? 

Bar. So chafed, that Richelieu totters. Yes, the King 
Is half conspirator against the Cardinal. 
Enough of this. I 've found the man we wanted, — 
The man to head the hands that murder Richelieu, — 
The man, whose name the synonyme for daring. 

De Ber. He must mean me ! — No, Count, I am — I own, 
A valiant dog — but still — 

Bar. Whom can I mean 230 

But Mauprat ? — Mark, to night we meet at Marion's, 
41 



ACT II. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

There shall we sign : thence send this scroll {^show- 
ing it) to Bouillon. 
You 're in that secret {affectionately) — (3ne of our 
new Council. 
De Ber. But to admit the Spaniard — France's foe — 
Into the heart of France, — dethrone the King, — 
It looks like treason, and I smell the headsman. 
Bar. Oh, Sir, too late to falter : when we meet 

We must arrange the separate — coarser scheme, 
For Richelieu's death. Of this despatch De Mauprat 
Must nothing learn. He only bites at vengeance, 240 
And he would start from 'Ireason. — We must post 

him 
Without the door at Marion's — as a sentry. 
{Aside.) So, when his head is on the block — his 

tongue 
Cannot betray our more august designs ! 
De Ber. I '11 meet you if the King can spare me. — 
{Aside.) No! 
I am too old a goose to play with foxes, 
I '11 roost at home. Meanwhile, in the next room 
There 's a delicious pate, — let 's discuss it. 
Bar. Pshaw ! a man filled with a sublime ambition 

Has no time to discuss your pates. 
De Beringhen. Pshaw ! 250 

And a man filled with as sublime a pate 
Has no time to discuss ambition. — 'Gad, 
I have the best of it ! 

42 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act ii. sc. i. 

Enter Julie hastily, with first Courtier. 

Jul. {to Courtier). A summons, Sir, 

To attend the Louvre ? — On this day, too ? 
Cour. Madame, 

The royal carriage waits below. — Messire, {to De 
Beringhen,) 

You will return with us. 
Jul. What can this mean ? — 

Where is my husband ? 
Bar. He has left the house, 

Perhaps till nightfall — so he bade me tell you. 

Alas, were I the lord of such fair treasure — 259 

Jul. {i?npatiently). Till nightfall ? — Strange — my heart 

misgives me ! 
Cour. Madame, 

My orders will not brook delay. 
Jul. {to Baradas). You '11 see him — 

And you will tell him ! 
Bar. From the flowers of Hybla 

Never more gladly did the bee bear honey. 

Than I take sweetness from those rosiest lips. 

Though to the hive of others ! 
Cour. {to De Beringheit). Come, Messire. 

De Ber. {hesitating]. One moment, just to — 
Cour. Come, Sir. 

De Ber. I shall not 

Discuss the pat6 after all. 'Ecod, 
43 



ACT II. sc. I. Richelieu ', or, the Conspiracy 

I 'm puzzled now. I don't know who 's the best of 
it ! [^Exeunt Julie , De Beringhen, and Courtier. 
Bar. Now will this fire his fever into madness ! 

All is made clear : Mauprat ;;zz/j/ murder Richelieu — 
Die for that crime : — I shall console his Julie — 271 
This will reach Bouillon ! — from the wrecks of France 
I shall carve out — who knows — perchance a throne ! 
All in despite of my Lord Cardinal. — 

Enter De Mauprat from the Gardens. 

De Maup. Speak ! can it be ? — Methought that from the 
terrace 

I saw the carriage of the King — and Julie ! 

No ! — no ! — my frenzy peoples the void air 

With its own phantoms ! 
Bar. Nay, too true. — Alas ! 

Was ever lightning swifter, or more blasting, 

Than Richelieu's forked guile ? 279 

De Maup. I '11 to the Louvre 

Bar. And lose all hope ! — The Louvre ! — the sure gate 

To the Bastile ! 

De Maup. The King 

Bar. Is but the wax, 

Which Richelieu stamps ! Break the malignant seal, 

And I will raze the print. Come, man, take heart ! 

Her virtue well could brave a sterner trial 

Than a few hours of cold, imperious courtship. 

Were Richelieu dust — no danger ! 
44 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act ii. sc. 2. 

De Maup. Ghastly Vengeance ! 

To thee, and thine august and solemn sister, 
The unrelenting Death, I dedicate 289 

The blood of Armand Richeheu ! When Dishonor 
Reaches our hearths. Law dies, and Murder takes 
The angel shape of Justice ! 

Bar. Bravely said ! 

At midnight,— Marion's !— Nay, I cannot leave thee 
To thoughts that 

De Maup. Speak not to me !— I am yours !— 

But speak not ! There 's a voice within my soul, 
Whose cry could drown the thunder.— Oh ! if men 
Will play dark sorcery with the heart of man. 
Let they who raise the spell beware the Fiend ! 

\ExeunL 

SCENE II. 

A Room in the Palais Cardinal {as in the First Act). 

Richelieu and Joseph. 

Francois writing at a table. 

Jos. Yes ;— Huguet, taking his accustomed round,— 
Disguised as some plain burgher,— heard these 

rufflers 
Quoting your name :— he hstened,— " Pshaw !" said 

one, 
" We are to seize the Cardinal in his palace 
45 



ACT II. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

To-morrow !"— " How ?" the other asked. — " You '11 

hear 
The whole design to-night ; the Duke of Orleans 
And Baradas have got the map of action 
At their fingers' end." — " So be it," quoth the other, 
" I will be there — Marion de Lorme's — at midnight !" 

Rich. I have them, man, — I have them ! 

Jos. So they say lo 

Of you, my Lord ; — believe me, that their plans 
Are mightier than you deem. You must employ 
Means no less vast to meet them ! 

Rich. Bah ! in policy 

We foil gigantic danger, not by giants, 

But dwarfs. The statues of our stately fortune 

Are sculptured by the chisel — not the axe !*' 
Ah ! were I younger — by the knightly heart 
That beats beneath these priestly robes,'' I would 
Have pastime with these cut-throats ! — Yea, as when, 
Lured to the ambush of the expecting foe, — 20 

I clove my pathway through the plumed sea ! 
Reach me yon falchion, Francois, — not that bawble 
For carpet-warriors, — yonder — such a blade 
As old Charles Martel might have wielded when 
He drove the Saracen from France. 

\_Francois brinj^s hi/ii one of the io7ig two-ha7ided 
swords worn in the middle ages. 

With this 
I, at Rochelle, did hand to hand engage 
46 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act ii. sc. 2. 

The stalwart Englisher, — no mongrels, boy, 
Those island mastiffs, — mark the notch — a deep one — 
His casque made here, — I shore him to the waist ! 
A toy — a feather — then ! 

[ Tries to wield, and lets it fall. 
You see, a child could 30 
Slay Richelieu, now, 
Fra7t. {/lis hand on his hilt). But no7u, at your command 

Are other weapons, my good Lord. 
Rich, {who has seated himself as to write, lifts the pen). 

True, — This ! 
Beneath the rule of men entirely great 
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold 
The arch-enchanter's wand ! — itself a nothing! — 
But taking sorcery from the master-hand 
To paralyze the Cresars — and to strike 
The loud earth breathless ! — Take away the sword — 
States can be saved without it ! 

\Looking on the clock. 
'T is the hour, — 
Retire, Sir. f Exit Francois. 

[A knock is heard. A door concealed in the arras 
opens cautiously. Enter Marion de Lorme. 
Jos. {amazed). Marion de Lorme ! 

Rich. Hist! — Joseph, 40 

Keep guard. 

\ Joseph retires to the principal entrance. 
My faithful Marion ! 
47 



ACT II. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Mar. Good, my Lord, 

They meet to-night in my poor house. The Duke 

Of Orleans heads them. 
Rich. Yes — go on. 

Mar. His Highness 

Much questioned if I knew some brave, discreet. 

And vigilant man, whose tongue could keep a secret. 

And who had those twin qualities for service, 

The love of gold, the hate of Richelieu. — 
Rich. You ?— 

Mar. Made answer, " Yes — my brother ; — bold and 
trusty ; 

Whose faith, my faith could pledge;" — the Duke 
then bade me 

Have him equipped and armed — well mounted — 
ready 50 

This night to part for Italy. 
Rich. Aha !— 

Has Bouillon too turned traitor ? — So methought ! — 

What part of Italy ? 
Mar. The Piedmont frontier, 

Where Bouillon lies encamped. 
Rich. Now there is danger ! 

Great danger 1 — If he tamper with the Spaniard, 

And Louis list not to my counsel, as, 

Without sure proof, he will not, — France is lost. 

What more ? 

48 



Richelieu j or, the Conspiracy actii.sc. 2. 

Mar. Dark hints of some design to seize 

Your person in your palace. Nothing clear — 
His Highness trembled while he spoke — the words 
Did choke each other. 

Rich. So ! — Who is the brother 

You recommended to the Duke ? 

Mar. Whoever 62 

Your Eminence may father ! — 

Rich. Darling Marion !^ 

Goes to the table, and returns with a large bag of gold. 

There — pshaw — a trifle ! — What an eye you have ! 

And what a smile — child ! — {kisses her) — Ah ! you 
fair perdition — 

'T is well I 'm old ! 
Mar. {aside and seriously). What a great man he is ! 
Rich. You are sure they meet ? — the hour ? 
Mar. At midnight. 

Rich. And 

You will engage to give the Duke's despatch 

To whom I send ? 
Mar. Ay, marry ! 

Rich, [aside). Huguet ? No; 

He will be wanted elsewhere. — Joseph ? — zealous, 70 

But too well known — too much the elder brother ! 

Mauprat — alas ! it is his wedding day ! — 

Francois ? — the Man of Men ! — unnoted — young ; 

Ambitious — {goes to the door) — Francois ! 
49 



ACT II. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Enter Francois. 

Rich. Follow this fair lady ; 

(Find him the suiting garments, Marion,) take 
My tleetest steed : — arm thyself to the teeth ; 
A packet will be given you— with orders, 
No matter what ! — The instant that your hand 
Closes upon it — clutch //, like your honor, 
Which Death alone can steal, or ravish — set So 

Spurs to your steed — be breathless, till you stand 
Again before me. — Stay, Sir ! — You will find me 
Two short leagues hence — at Ruelle, in my castle. 
Young man. be blithe ! — for — note me — from the 

hour 
1 grasp that packet — think your guardian Star 
Rains fortune on you ! — 

Fran. ' If I fail— 

Rich. Fail— fail ? 

In the lexicon oi youth, which Fate reserves 
For a bright manhood, there is no such word 
\s—faiF' — (You will instruct him further. Marion.) 
Follow her — but at distance ; — speak not to her, 90 
Till you are housed. — Farewell, boy ! Never say 
" F(7i/'' again. 

Fran. I will not ! 

/O.v//. {patfin^:^ his locks). There 's my young hero I — 

\_Excunt Francois, Marion. 

Rich. So. they would seize my person in this palace? — 
50 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act ii. sc. a. 

I cannot guess their scheme ; — but my retinue 
Is here too large ! — a single traitor could 
Strike impotent the faith of thousands ; — ^Joseph, 
Art sure of Huguet ? — Think — we hanged his 
Father ! 
Jos. But you have bought the Son ; — heaped favors on 

him ! 
Rich. Trash ! — favors past — that 's nothing. — In his 
hours 
Of confidence with you, has he named the favors loo 
To come — he counts on ? 
Jos. Yes : — a Colonel's rank, 

And Letters of Nobility. 
Rich. What, Huguet !— 

\^Hcre Huguet enters, as to address the Cardinal, 
who does not perceive him. 
Hug. My own name, soft — {glides behind the screen). 
Rich. Colonel and Nobleman ! 

My bashful Huguet — that can never be ! — 
We have him not the less — we '11 promise it f 
And see the King withholds ! — Ah, kings are ott 
A great convenience to a minister ! 
No wrong to Huguet either; — Morahsts 
Say, Hope is sweeter than Possession ! — Yes ! — 
We '11 count on Huguet ! Favors past do gorge i lo 
Our dogs ; leave service drowsy — dull the scent, 
Slacken the speed ; — favors to come, my Joseph, 
Produce a lusty, hungry gratitude, 
51 



ACT II. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

A ravenous zeal, that of the commonest cur 
Would make a Cerberus. — You are right; this 

treason 
Assumes a fearful aspect : — but once crushed, 
Its very ashes shall manure the soil 
Of power ; and ripen such full sheaves of greatness, 
That all the summer of my fate shall seem 
Fruitless beside the autumn ! 

\Hugnct holds up his hand me7iacingly, and 
creeps out. 

Jos. The saints grant it ! 120 

Rich, [solemnly). Yes — for sweet France, Heaven grant 
it ! — O my country. 
For thee — thee only — though men deem it not — 
Are toil and terror my familiars ! — I 
Have made thee great and fair — upon thy brows 
Wreathed the old Roman laurel : — at thy feet 
Bowed nations down. — No pulse in my ambition 
Whose beatings were not measured from thy heart ! 
[In the old times before us, patriots lived 
And died for libert) — 

Jos. As you would live 

And die for despotry — 

Rich. False monk, not so, 130 

But for the purple and the power wherein 
State clothes herself. — I love my native land 
Not as Venetian, Englisher, or Swiss, 
But as a Noble and a Priest of France ; 
52 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act ii. sc. a. 

"All things for France " — lo, my eternal maxim ! 

The vital axle of the restless wheels 

That bear me on ! With her I have entwined 

My passions and my fate — my crimes, my virtues — 

Hated and loved,^ and schemed, and shed men's 

blood. 
As the calm crafts of Tuscan Sages teach 140 

Those who would make their country great. Beyond 
The map of France — my heart can travel not. 
But fills that limit to its farthest verge ; 
And while I live — RicheHeu and France are one.] 
We Priests, to whom the Church forbids in youth 
The plighted one — to manhood's toil denies 
The soother helpmate — from our withered age 
Shuts the sweet blossoms of the second spring 
That smiles in the name of Father — we are yet 
Not holier than Humanity, and must 150 

Fulfil Humanity's condition — Love ! 
Debarred the Actual, we but breathe a life 
To the chill Marble of the Ideal— Thus, 
In thy unseen and abstract Majesty, 
My France — my Country, I have bodied forth 
A thing to love. What are these robes of state, 
This pomp, this palace ? perishable bawbles ! 
In this world, two things only are immortal — 
Fame and a People ! 

Enter Huguet. 
5 S3 



ACT II. sc, 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Htig. My Lord Cardinal, 

Your Eminence bade me seek you at this hour. i6o 

RicJi. Did I ? — True, Huguet. — So — you overheard 

Strange talk amongst these gallants ? Snares and traps 
For Richelieu ? — Well — we 11 balk them ; let me 

think— 
The men-at-arms you head — how many ? 

Hiis^. Twenty,^'' 

My Lord. 

Rich. All trusty ? 

Hug. Yes, for ordinary 

Occasions — if for great ones, I would change 
Three fourths at least. 

Rich. Ay, what are great occasions ? 

Hug. Great bribes ! 

Rich, {to Joseph). Good lack, he knows some paragons 
Superior to great bribes I 

Hug. True Gentlemen 

Who have transgressed the laws — and value life 170 

And lack not gold ; your Eminence alone 

Can grant them pardon. Ergo, you can trust them ! 

Rich. Logic ! — So be it — let this honest twenty 

Be armed and mounted — {Aside.) So they meet at 

midnight, 
The attempt on me to-morrow — Ho ! we '11 strike 
'Twixt wind and water. — {Aloud.) Does it need 

much time 
To find these ornaments to Human Nature ? 
54 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act ii. sc. a. 

Hug. My Lord — the trustiest of them are not 1)irds 
That love the dayhyht. — I do know a haunt 
Where they meet nightly — 

Rich. Ere the dawn be gray, i8o 

All could be armed, assembled, and at Ruelle 
In my old hall ? 

Hug. By one hour after midnight. 

Rich. The castle 's strong. You know its outlets, Huguet ? 
Would twenty men, well posted, keep such guard 
That not one step — (and Murder's step is stealthy) — 
Gould glide within — unseen ? 

Hug. A triple wall — 

A drawbridge and portcullis — twenty men 
Under my lead, a month might hold that castle 
Against a host. 

Rich. They do not strike till morning, 

Yet I will shift the quarter — Bid the grooms 190 

Prepare the litter — I will hence to Ruelle 
While daylight last — and one hour after midnight 
You and your twenty saints shall seek me thither ! 
You 're made to rise ! — You are, Sir ; — eyes of lynx, 
Ears of the stag, a footfall like the snow ; 
You are a valiant fellow ; — yea, a trusty. 
Religious, exemplary, incorrupt, 
And precious jewel of a fellow, Huguet ! 

If I live long enough, — ay, mark my words 

If I hve long enough, you '11 be a Colonel — 200 
Noble, perhaps ! — One hour, Sir, after midnight. 
55 



ACT II. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Hug. You leave me dumb with gratitude, my Lord ; 

I '11 pick the trustiest — {aside.) Marion's house can 
furnish ! {^Exit Huguet. 

Rich. How like a spider shall I sit in my hole, 
And watch the meshes tremble. 

Jos. But, my Lord, 

Were it not wiser still to man the palace, 
And seize the traitors in the act ? 

Rich. No ; Louis, 

Long chafed against me — Julie stolen from him, 
Will rouse him more. — He '11 say I hatched the 

treason, 
Or scout my charge : — He half desires my death ; 210 
But the despatch to Bouillon, some dark scheme 
Against his crown — there is our weapon, Joseph I 
With that, all safe — without it, all is peril ! 
Meanwhile to my old castle ; you to court. 
Diving with careless eyes into men's hearts. 
As ghostly churchmen should do ! See the King, 
Bid him peruse that sage and holy treatise. 
Wherein 't is set forth how a Premier should 
Be chosen from the Priesthood — how the King 
Should never listen to a single charge 220 

Against his servant, nor conceal one whisper 
That the rank envies of a court distil 
Into his ear — to fester the fair name 
Of my — I mean his Minister ! — Oh ! Joseph, 
A most convincing treatise." 
56 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act ii. sc.2. 

Good — all favors, 

If Francois be but bold, and Hugiiet honest. — 

Huguet — I half suspect — he bowed too low — 

'T is not his way. 
Jos. This is the curse, my Lord, 

Of your high state ; — suspicion of all men. 
Rich, {sadly). True; — true; — my leeches bribed to 
poisoners ; — pages 230 

To strangle me in sleep. — My very King 

(This brain the unresting loom from which was 
woven 

The purple of his greatness) leagued against me. 

Old— childless— friendless— broken— all forsake ; 

All— all— but— 
Jos. What ? 

Rich. The indomitable heart 

Of Armand Richelieu ! 
Jos. Naught beside ? 

Rich. Why, Juhe, 

My own dear foster-child, forgive me ; — yes ; 

This morning, shining through their happy tears, 

Thy soft eyes blessed me ! — and thy Lord, — in 
danger. 

He would forsake me not. 

Jos. And Joseph 

Rich, {ajter a pause). You 240 

Yes, I believe you — yes — for all men fear you — 

And the world loves you not. — And I, friend Joseph, 
^57 



ACT II. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

I am the only man who could, my Joseph, 

Make you a Bishop. ^^ — Come, we '11 go to dinner, 

And talk the while of methods to advance 

Our Mother Church.'=^ — Ah, Joseph, — Bishop Joseph ! 



58 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act hi. sc. 



ACT III. 

SECOND DAY (mIDNIGHT). 

SCENE I. 

Richelieu s Castle at Ruelle. A Gothic Chamber. Moon- 
light at the window, occasionally obscured. 

Rich, (reading)}^ " In silence, and at night, the Con- 
science feels 
That life should soar to nobler ends than Power," 
So sayest thou, sage and sober moralist ! 
But wert thou tried ?— Sublime Philosophy, 
Thou art the Patriarch's ladder, reaching heaven, 
And bright with beck'ning angels — but, alas ! 
We see thee, like the Patriarch, but in dreams, 
By the first step — dull-slumbering on the earth. 
I am not happy ! — with the Titan's lust 
I wooed a goddess, and I clasp a cloud. lo 

When I am dust, my name shall, like a star, 
Shine through wan space, a glory — and a prophet 
Whereby pale seers shall from their aery towers 
Con all the ominous signs, benign or evil, 
That make the potent astrologue of kings. 
59 



ACT III. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

( 

But shall the Future judge me by the ends 

That I have wrought — or by the dubious means 

Through which the stream of my renown hath run 

Into the many-voiced unfathomed Time ? 

Foul in its bed lie weeds, and heaps of slime, 20 

And with its waves, when sparkling in the sun, j 

Ofttimes the secret rivulets that swell ^ 

Its might of waters blend the hues of blood. 

Yet are my sins not those of circumstance. 

That all-pervading atmosphere, wherein 

Our spirits, like the unsteady lizard, take 

The tints that color, and the food that nurtures ? 

^^Oh ! ye, whose hour-glass shifts its tranquil sands 

In the unvexed silence of a student's cell ; — 

Ye, whose untempted hearts have never tossed 30 ' 

Upon the dark and stormy tides where life 

Gives battle to the elements, — and man 

Wrestles with man for some slight plank, whose 

weight 
Will bear but one — while round the desperate wretch 
The hungry billows roar — and the fierce Fate, 
Like some huge monster, dim-seen through the surf, 4 ^ 
Waits him who drops; — ye safe and formal men. 
Who write the deeds, and with unfeverish hand 
Weigh in nice scales the motives of the Great, 
Ye cannot know what ye have never tried ! 40 

History preserves only the fleshless bones 
Of what we are — and by the mocking skull 

60 1:, 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act hi. sc. i. 

The would-be wise pretend to guess the features ! 
Without the roundness and the glow of life 
How hideous is the skeleton ! Without 
The colorings and humanities that clothe 
Our errors, the anatomists of schools 
Can make our memory hideous ! 

I have wrought 
Great uses out of evil tools — and they 
In the time to come may bask beneath the light 50 
Which I have stolen from the angry gods, 
And warn their sons against the glorious theft, 
Forgetful of the darkness which it broke. 
I have shed blood, but I have had no foes 
Save those the State had •,^^ if my wrath was deadly, 
'T is that I felt my country in my veins. 
And smote her sons as Brutus smote his own." 
And yet I am not happy — blanched and seared 
Before my time — breathing an air of hate. 
And seeing daggers in the eyes of men, 60 

And wasting powers that shake the thrones of earth 
In contest with the insects — bearding kings 
And braved by lackeys^^ — murder at my bed ; 
And lone amidst the multitudinous web. 
With the dread Three— that are the Fates who hold 
The woof and shears — the Monk, the Spy, the 

Headsman. 
And this is Power ? Alas ! I am not happy. 

lA/Ur a pause, 
6z 



ACT III. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

And yet the Nile is fretted by the weeds 

Its rising roots not up ; but never yet 

Uid one least barrier by a ripple vex 70 

My onward tide, unswept in sport away. 

Am I so ruthless then, that I do hate 

Them who do hate me ? Tush, tush ! I do not hate ; 

Nay, I forgive. The Statesman writes the doom. 

But the Priest sends the blessing. I forgive them, 

But I destroy ; forgiveness is mine own, 

Destruction is the State's ! For private life, 

Scripture the guide — for public, Machiavel. 

Would Fortune serve me if the Heaven were wroth ? 

For chance makes half my greatness. I was born So 

Beneath the aspect of a bright-eyed star, 

And my triumphant adamant of soul 

Is but the fixed persuasion of success. 

Ah ! — here ! — that spasm ! — again ! — How Life and 

Death 
Do wrestle for me momently ! — And yet 
The King looks pale. I shall outlive the King ! 
And then, thou insolent Austrian — who didst gibe 
At the ungainly, gaunt, and daring lover, ^^ 
Sleeking thy looks to silken Buckingham, — 
Thou shalt — no matter ! — I have outlived love. go 
O beautiful — all golden — gentle youth ! 
Making thy palace in the careless front 
And hopeful eye of man — ere yet the soul 
Hath lost the memories which (so Plato dreamed) 
62 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act hi. sc. i. 

Breathed glory from the earher star it dwelt in — 

O for one gale from thine exulting morning, 

Stirring amidst the roses, where of old 

Love shook the dew-drops from his glancing hair ! 

Could I recall the past — or had not set 

The prodigal treasures of the bankrupt soul loo 

In one slight bark upon the shoreless sea ; 

The yoked steer, after his day of toil. 

Forgets the goad, and rests — to me alike 

Or day or night — Ambition has no rest ! 

Shall I resign ? — who can resign himself? 

For custom is ourself ; as drink and food 

Become our bone and flesh — the aliments 

Nurturing our nobler part, the mind — thoughts, 

dreams, 
Passions, and aims, in the revolving cycle 
Of the great alchemy — at length are made i lo 

Our mind itself; and yet the sweets of leisure — 
An honored home — far from these base intrigues — 
An eyrie on the heaven-kissed heights of wisdom — 

[ Taking up the book. 
Speak to me, moralist ! — I '11 heed thy counsel. 
Were it not best 

Enter Fra?tcois hastily, and in part disgimed. 

Rich, {flinging away the book). Philosophy, thou liest ! 
Quick — the despatch ! Power — Empire ! Boy — the 
packet ! 

63 



ACT III. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Frail. Kill me, my Lord. 

Rich. They knew thee — they suspected — 

They gave it not 

Fi-aji. He gave it — he — the Count 

De Baradas — with his own hand he gave it ! 
Rich. Baradas ! Joy ! out with it ! 
Frail. Listen, 120 

And then dismiss me to the headsman. 
Rich. Ha ! 

Go on. 
Fran. They led me to a chamber — There 

Orleans and Baradas — and some half-score, 

Whom I know not — were met 

Rich. Not more ! 

Fi'an. But from 

The adjoining chamber broke the din of voices. 

The clattering tread of armed men ; at times 

A shriller cry, that yelled out, " Death to Riche- 
lieu !" 
Rich. Speak not of me : thy country is in danger ! 

The adjoining room — So, so — a separate treason ! 

The one thy ruin, France ! — the meaner crime, 130 

Left to their tools, my murder I — 
Fran. Baradas 

Questioned me close — demurred — until, at last, 

O'erruled by Orleans, — gave the packet — told me 

That life and death were in the scroll — this gold — 
Rich. Gold is no proof — 

64 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act hi. sc. i. 

Fran. And Orleans promised thousands, 

When Bouillon's trumpets in the streets of Paris 
Rang out shrill answer. — Hastening from the house, 
My footstep in the stirrup, Marion stole 
Across the threshold, whispering, " Lose no moment 
Ere Richelieu have the packet : tell him too — 140 
Murder is in the wings of Night, and Orleans 
Swears, ere the dawn the Cardinal shall be clay." 
She said, and trembling fled within ; when, lo ! 
A hand of iron griped me ; through the dark 
Gleamed the dim shadow of an armed man : 
Ere I could draw — the prize was wrested from me, 
And a hoarse voice gasped — " Spy, I spare thee, for 
This steel is virgin to thy Lord!" with that 
He vanished. — Scared and trembling for thy safety 
I mounted, fled, and, kneehng at thy feet, 1 50 

Implore thee to acquit my faith — but not, 
Like him, to spare my hfe. — 

Rich. Who spake of life? 

I bade thee grasp that treasure as thine honor — 
A jewel worth whole hecatombs of lives ! 
Begone ! — redeem thine honor — back to Marion — 
Or Baradas — or Orleans — track the robber — 
Regain the packet — or crawl on to Age — 
Age and gray hairs like mine — and know, thou hast 

lost 
That which had made thee great and saved thy 
country. — 

65 



ACT III. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

See me not till thou 'st bought the right to seek me. — 
Away ! — Nay, cheer thee, thou hast not failed yet, — 
There 's no such word as ''fail /" 162 

Fra/t. Bless you, my Lord, 

For that one smile I — 1 '11 wear it on my heart 
To light me back to triumph. •'*' [Exit. 

Rich. The poor youth I 

An elder had asked life ! — 1 love the young ! 
For as great men live not in their own time, 
But the next race, — so in the young, my soul 
Makes many Richelieus. He will win it yet. 
Francois ! — He 's gone. My murder ! Marion's 

warning ! 
This bravo's threat ! O for the morrow's dawn I 170 
1 '11 set my spies to work — I '11 make all space 
(As does the sun) an Universal Eye — 
Huguet shall track — Joseph confess — ha ! ha I — 
Strange, while I laughed I shuddered — and ev'n now 
Through the chill air the beating of my heart 
Sounds like a death-watch by a sick man's pillow ; 
If Huguet could deceive me — hoofs without — 
The gates unclose — steps near and nearer ! 

Enter Julie. 
Jul. Cardinal ! 

My father ! {Falls at his feet. 

Rich. Julie at this hour I — and tears I 

What ails thee ? 

66 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act hi. sc. i. 

Jul. I am safe; I am with thee! — i8o 

Rich. Safe ! why in all the storms of this wild world 

What wind would mar the violet ? 
Jul. That man — 

Why did I love him ? — clinging to a breast 

That knows no shelter ? 

Listen — late at noon — 

The marriage-day — ev'n then no more a lover — 

He left me coldly, — well, — I sought my chamber 

To weep and wonder — but to hope and dream. 

Sudden a mandate from the King — to attend 

Forthwith his pleasure at the Louvre. 
Rich. Ha ! 

You did obey the summons ; and the King 190 

Reproached your hasty nuptials. 
Jul. Were that all ! 

He frowned and chid ; proclaimed the bond unlawful: 

Bade me not quit my chamber in the palace, 

And there at night — alone — this night — all still — 

He sought my presence — dared — thou read'st the 
heart, 

Read mine ! — I cannot speak it ! 
Rich. He a king, — 

You — woman ; well, — you yielded ! 
Jul. Cardinal — 

Dare you say " yielded ?" — Humbled and abashed, 

He from the chamber crept — this mighty Louis ; 

Crept like a baffled felon ! — yielded ! Ah ! 200 

67 



ACT III. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

More royalty in woman's honest heart 
Than dwells within the crowned majesty 
And sceptred anger of a hundred kings ! 
Yielded ! — Heavens !— yielded ! 

Rich. To my breast, — close — close ! 

The world would never need a Richelieu, if 
Men — bearded, mailed men — the Lords of Eai th — 
Resisted flattery, falsehood, avarice, pride, 
As this poor child with the dove's innocent scorn 
Her sex's tempters, Vanity and Power ! — 
He left you — well ! 

Jul. Then came a sharper trial ! 210 

At the King's suit, the Count de Baradas 
Sought me to soothe, to fawn, to flatter, while 
On his smooth lip insult appeared more hateful 
For the false mask of pity : letdng fall 
Dark hints of treachery, with a world of sighs 
That Heaven had granted to so base a Lord 
The heart whose coldest friendship were to him 
What Mexico to misers ! Stung at last 
By my disdain, the dim and glimmering sense 
Of his cloaked words broke into bolder light, 220 
And THEN — ah ! then, my haughty spirit failed me ! 
Then I was weak — wept — oh ! such bitter tears ! 
For (turn thy face aside and let me whisper 
The horror to thine ear) then did I learn 
That he— that Adrien— that my husband— knew 
The King's polluting suit, and deemed it honor ! 
68 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act hi. sc. i. 

Then all the terrible and loathsome truth 

Glared on me ; — coldness — waywardness, reserve — 

Mystery of looks — words — all unravelled, — and 

I saw the impostor, where I had loved the god ! 230 

Rich. I think thou wrong' st thy husband — but proceed. 

Jul. Did you say "wronged" him ? — Cardinal, my father, 
Did you say "wronged?" Prove it, and life shall 

grow 
One prayer for thy reward and his forgiveness. 

Rich. Let me know all. 

Jul. To the despair he caused 

The courtier left me ; but amid the chaos 
Darted one guiding ray — to 'scape — to fly — 
Reach Adrien, learn the worst — 't was then near 

midnight : 
Trembling I left my chamber — sought the queen — 
Fell at her feet — revealed the unholy peril — 240 
Implored her aid to flee our joint disgrace. 
Moved, she embraced and soothed me; nay, pre- 
served ; 
Her word sufficed to unlock the palace-gates: 
I hastened home — but home was desolate, — 
No Adrien there ! Fearing the worst, I fled 
To thee, directed hither. As my wheels 
Paused at thy gates — the clang of arms behind — 
The ring of hoofs — 

'^ich. 'T was but my guards, fair trembler. 

(So Huguet keeps his word, my omens wronged him.) 
6 69 



ACT III. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Jul. O, in one hour what years of anguish crowd ! 250 

Rich. Nay, there 's no danger now. Thou needest rest. 

Come, thou shalt lodge beside me. Tush ! be 

cheered. 
My rosiest Amazon — thou wrong'st thy Theseus. 
All will be well— yes, yet all well. 

\^Exeunt through a side-door. 

SCENE II. 

Enter Huguet — De Maicprat, in complete armor, his 
visor down. The moonlight obscured at the casement. 

Hug. Not here ! 

De Maup. O, I will find him, fear not. Hence and guard 
The galleries where the menials sleep — ^plant sentries 
At every outlet — Chance should throw no shadow 
Between the vengeance and the victim ! Go ! — 
Ere yon brief vapor that obscures the moon. 
As doth our deed pale conscience, pass away, 
The mighty shall be ashes. 

Hug. Will you not 

A second arm ? 

De Maup. To slay one weak old man ? — 

Away ! No lesser wrongs than mine can make 10 
This murder lawful. Hence ! 

Hug. A short farewell ! 

\Exit Huguet. 
70 



^ Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act hi. sc. 2. 

Re-enter Richelieu {710 1 perceiving De Mauprat). 

Rich. How heavy is the air ! — the vestal lamp 
Of the sad moon, weary with vigil, dies 
In the still temple of the solemn heaven ! 
The very darkness lends itself to fear — 
• To treason — 

De Maup. And to death ! 

Rich. My omens lied not ! 

What art thou, wretch ? 

De Maup. Thy doomsman ! 

Rich. Ho, my guards ! 

Huguet ! Montbrassil ! Vermont ! 
^ De Maup. Ay, thy spirits 

Forsake thee, wizard ; thy bold men of mail 
Are my confederates. Stir not ! but one step, 20 
And know the next — thy grave ! 

Rich. Thou liest, knave ! 

I am old, infirm — most feeble — but thou liest ! 
Armand de Richelieu dies not by the hand 
Of man — the stars have said it^^ — and the voice 
Of my own prophet and oracular soul 
Confirms the shining Sibyls ! — Call them all, 
Thy brother butchers ! Earth has no such fiend — 
No ! as one parricide of his father-land. 
Who dares in Richelieu murder France ! 

De Maup. Thy stars 

Deceive thee, Cardinal ; thy soul of wiles 30 

71 



ACT III. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

May against kings and armaments avail, 

And mock the embattled world ; but powerless now 

Against the sword of one resolved man. 

Upon whose forehead thou hast written shame ! 

Rich. I breathe ; he is not a hireling. Have I wronged 
thee? 
Beware surmise — suspicion — lies ! I am 
Too great for men to speak the truth of me ! 

De Maup. Thy acts are thy accusers, Cardinal ! 
In his hot youth, a soldier, urged to crime 
Against the State, placed in your hands his life ; 40 
You did not strike the blow — but o'er his head, 
Upon the gossamer thread of your caprice, 
Hovered the axe. His the brave spirit's hell, 
The twilight terror of suspense ; — your death 
Had set him free ; he purposed not, nor prayed it. 
One day you summoned — rhocked him with smooth 

pardon — 
Showered wealth upon him — bade an angel's face 
Turn Earth to Paradise 

Rich. Well ! 

De Maup. Was this mercy ? 

A Caesar's generous vengeance ? — Cardinal, no ! 
Judas, not Caesar, was the model ! You 50 

Saved him from death for shame ; reserved to grow 
The scorn of living men — to his dead sires 
Leprous reproach — scoff of the age to come — 
A kind convenience — a Sir Pandarus 
72 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act hi. sc. 2. 

To his own bride, and the august adulterer ! 
Then did the first great law of human hearts, 
Which with the patriot's, not the rebel's, name 
Crowned the first Brutus, when the Tarquin fell. 
Make Misery royal — raise this desperate wretch 
Into thy destiny ! Expect no mercy ! 60 

Behold De Mauprat ! \.Lifts his visor. 

Rich. To thy knees, and crawl 

For pardon ; or, I tell thee, thou shalt live 
For such remorse, that, did I hate thee, I 
Would bid thee strike, that I might be avenged ! 
It was to save my Julie from the King, 
That in thy valor I forgave thy crime ; — 
It was — when thou — the rash and ready tool — 
• Yea of that shame thou loath 'st — didst leave thy 

hearth 
To the polluter — in these arms thy bride 
Found the protecting shelter thine withheld. 70 

\_Goes to the side-door. 
Julie de Mauprat — Julie ! 

Enter Julie. 

Lo ! my witness ! 
De Maup. What marvel 's this ? — I dream ! my Julie — 
thou / 
This, thy beloved hand ? 
Jul. Henceforth all bond 

Between us twain is broken. Were it not 
73 



ACT III. sc. 2. Richelieu; or, the Conspiracy 

For this old man, I might, in truth, have lost 

The right — now mine — to scorn thee! 
RicJi. So, you hear her? 

Dc Maiip. Thou with some slander hast her sense in- 
fected ! 
////. No, Sir : he did excuse thee in despite 

Of all that wears the face of truth. "Wiy frietid — 

Thy confidant — familiar — Baradas — 80 

Himself revealed thy baseness. 
De Maup, Baseness ! 

Rich. Ay; 

That tJiou didst court dishonor. 
De Maup. Baradas ! 

Where is thy thunder, Heaven ? — Duped ! — snared ! 
— undone ! 

Thou — thou couldst not believe him ! Thou dost 
love me ! 

Love cannot feed on falsehoods ! 
Jul. {aside). Love him ! — Ah ! 

Be still my heart ! {Aloud.) Love you I did : — how 
fondly, 

Woman — if women were my listeners now — 

Alone could tell ! — For ever fled my dream : 

Farewell — all 's over ! 
Rich. Nay, my daughter, these 

Are but the blinding mists of daybreak love, 90 

Sprung from its very light, and heralding 

A noon of happy summer. Take her hand, 
74 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act hi. sc. 2. 

And speak the truth, with which your heart runs 

over — 
That this Count Judas — this Incarnate Falsehood — 
Never hed more, than when he told thy Julie 
That Adrian loved her not — except, indeed, 
When he told Adrien, Julie could betray him. 
. Jul. [£7}tbracmg- De Mauprat). You love me, then ! — you 
love me ! — and they wronged you ! 

De Maup. Ah ! couldst thou doubt it ? 

Rich. Why the very mole 

Less blind than thou ! Baradas loves thy wife ; — 100 
Had hoped her hand — aspired to be that cloak 
To the King's will, which to thy bluntness seems 
The Centaur's poisonous robe — hopes even now 
* To make thy corpse his footstool to thy bed ! 

Where was thy wit, man ? — Ho ! these schemes are 

glass ! 
The very sun shines through them. 

De Maup. O, my Lord, 

Can you forgive me ? 

Rick. Ay, and save you ! 

De Maup. Save ! — 

Terrible word ! — O, save thyself : — these halls 
Swarm with thy foes : already for thy blood 
Pants thirsty Murder ! 

Jul. Murder ? 

Rich. Hush! put by no 

The woman. Hush ! a shriek — a cry — a breath 
Too loud, would startle from its horrent pause 
75 



ACT III. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

The swooping Death ! Go to the door, and listen ! — 

Now for escape ! 
De Maup. None — none ! Their blades shall pass 

This heart to thine. 
Rich, {(iryly). An honorable outwork, 

But much too near the citadel. I think 

That 1 can trust you now {slowly, and gazing on him) : 
— yes ; I can trust you. 

How many of my troop league with you ? 
Be Maiip. All !— 

We arc your troop ! 
Rich. And Huguet ? 

Dc Maup. Is our captain. 

Rich. A retributive Power ! — This comes of spies ! 120 

All ? then the lion's skin 's too short to-night, — 

Now for the fox's ! 

Jul. A hoarse, gathering murmur ! — 

Hurrying and heavy footsteps ! 
Rich. Ha ! — the posterns ? 

De Maup. No egress where no sentry ! 
Rich. Follow me — 

I have it ! — to my chamber — quick ! Come, Julie ! 

Hush ! Mauprat, come ! 

{Murmur at a distance) — Death to the Cardinal ! 
Rich. Bloodhounds, I laugh at ye ! — ha ! ha ! — we will 

Baffle them yet.— Ha ! ha ! 

\_Exeunt Julie, Mauprat, Richelieti. 
Hug. {without). This way — this way ! 

76 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act hi. so. 3 

SCENE III. 

Enter Huguet and the Conspirators. 

Hug. De Mauprat's hand is never slow in battle ; — 

Strange, if it falter now ! Ha ! gone ! 
First Con. Perchance 

The fox had crept to rest ; and to his lair 
Death, the dark hunter, tracks him. 

\^Enter Mauprat, throwitig open the doors of the 
recess, in which a bed, whereon Richelieu 
lies extended. 
De Maiip. Live the King ! 

Richelieu is dead ! 
• Hug. {advancing towards the recess ; Mauprat follow- 
ing, his hand on his dagger) . Are his eyes open ? 
De Maup. Ay, 

As if in life ! 
Hug. [turning back). I will not look on him. 

You have been long. 
De Maup. I watched him till he slept. 

Heed me. — No trace of blood reveals the deed ; — 
Strangled in sleep. His health hath long been 

broken — 
Found breathless in his bed. So runs our tale, 10 
Remember ! Back to Paris — Orleans gives 
Ten thousand crowns, and Baradas a lordship. 
To him who first gluts vengeance with the news 
77 



ACT III. sc. 4. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

That Richelieu is in heaven ! Quick, that all France 

May share your joy ! 
Hug. And you ? 

De Majip, Will stay, to crush 

Eager suspicion — to forbid sharp eyes 

To dwell too closely on the clay ; prepare 

The rites, and place him on his bier — this my task. 

I leave to you, sirs, the more grateful lot 

Of wealth and honors. Hence ! 
Hug. I shall be noble ! 20 

De Maup. Away ! 

First Con. Five thousand crowns ! 

Omnes. To horse ! — to horse ! 

{Exetmt Conspirators. 

SCENE IV. 

Still 7iight. — A Room in the house of Count de Baradas, 

lighted, &^c. 

Orleans and De Beri7ighen. 

De Ber. I understand. Mauprat kept guard without : 
Knows naught of the despatch — but heads the troop 
Whom the poor Cardinal fancies his protectors. 
Save us from such protection ! 

Or I. Yet, if Huguet, 

By whose advice and proffers we renounced 
Our earlier scheme, should still be Richelieu's 

minion, 
And play us false — 

78 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act hi. sc. 4- 
♦ 

De Ber. The fox must then devour 

The geese he gripes, (I 'm out of it, thank Heaven !) 
And you must swear you smelt the trick, but 

seemed 
To approve the deed — to render up the doers. lo 

Enter Baradas. 

Bar. Juhe is fled : — the King, whom now I left 
To a most thorny pillow, vows revenge 
On her — on Mauprat — and on Richelieu ! Well ; 
We loyal men anticipate his wish 
Upon the last — and as for Mauprat — 

\Sho'wing a writ. 

De Ber. Hum ! 

* They say the Devil invented printing ! Faith, 

He has some hand in writing parchment — eh, Count ? 
What mischief now ? 

Bar. The King, at Julie's flight 

Enraged, will brook no rival in a subject — 
So on this old offence — the affair of Faviaux — 20 
Ere Mauprat can tell tales of us, we build 
His bridge between the dungeon and the grave. 

Orl. Well ; if our courier can but reach the army, 
The cards are ours ! — and yet, I own, I tremble. 
Our names are in the scroll — discovery, death ! 

Bar. Success, a crown ! 

De Ber. {apart to Baradas). Our future Regent is 

No hero. 

79 



ACT III. sc 4. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Bar. {to De Beringhejt). But his rank makes others 

vahant ; 
And on his cowardice I mount to power. 
Were Orleans Regent — what were Baradas ? 
Oh ! by the way — I had forgot, your Highness, 30 
Friend Huguet whispered me, " Beware of Marion : 
I 've seen her kirking near the Cardinal's palace." 
Upon that hint, I 've found her lodgings elsewhere. 

Ori. You wrong her. Count. Poor Marion ! — she adores 
me. 

Bar. {apologetically). Forgiv^e me, but 

Enter Page. 

Page. My Lord, a rude, strange soldier, 

Breathless with haste, demands an audience. 
Bar. So ! — 

The archers ? 
Page. In the anteroom, my Lord, 

As you desired. 
Bar. 'T is well — admit the soldier. \^Exit Page. 

Huguet ! — I bade him seek me here. 

E7iter Huguet. 
Hug. My Lords, 

The deed is done. Now, Count, fulfil your word, 40 
And make me noble ! 
Bar. Richelieu dead ? — art sure ? 

How died he ? 

80 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act hi. sc. 4 

Hug. Strangled in his sleep : — no blood, 

No telltale violence. 
Bar. Strangled ? — monstrous villain ! 

Reward for murder ! Ho, there ! \_Stajnping. 

Enter Captain with five Archers. 

Hug. No, thou durst not ! 

Bar. Seize on the ruffian— bind him— gag him ! Off 

To the Bastile ! 
Hug. Your word — your plighted faith ! 

Bar. Insolent liar ! — ho, away ! 
Hug. Nay, Count ; 

I have that about me, which 

Bar. Away with him ! 

[Exetmt Huguet and Archers. 

Now, then, all 's safe; Huguet must die in prison. 

So Mauprat : — coax or for.ce the meaner crew 50 

To fly the country. Ha, ha ! thus, your Highness, 

Great men make use of little men. 
De Ber. My Lords, 

Since oui: suspense is ended— you '11 excuse me ; 

'T is late — and, entre nous, I have not supped 
yet! 

I 'm one of the new Council now, remember ; 

I feel the public stirring here already ; 

A very craving monster. Au revoir ! 

\_Exit De Beringhen. 
OrL No fear, now Richelieu 's dead. 
81 



ACT III. sc. 4- Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Bar. And could he come 

To life again, he could not keep life's life — 
His power, — nor save De Mauprat from the scaf- 
fold,— 60 
Nor Julie from these arms — nor Paris from 
The Spaniard — nor your Highness from the throne! 
All ours ! all ours ! in spite of my Lord Cardinal ! 

Enter Page. 
Page. A gentleman, my Lord, of better mien 

Than he who last 

Bar. Well, he may enter. 

\Exit Page. 
Or/. Who 

Can this be ? 
Bar. One of the conspirators : 

Mauprat himself, perhaps. 

E7iter Francois. 

Fran. My Lord 

Bar. Ha, traitor ! 

In Paris still ? 
Fran. The packet — the despatch — 

Some knave played spy without, and reft it from 
me, 

Ere I could draw my sword. 
Bar. Played spy without ! 70 

Did he wear armor ? 

9^ 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act hi. sc. 4. 

Fran. Ay, from head to heel. 

Orl. One of our band. O, heavens ! 
Bar. Could it be Mauprat ? 

Kept guard at the door — knew naught of the de- 
spatch — 
How HE ? — and yet, who other ? 
» Fran. Ha, De Mauprat! 

The night was dark — his visor closed. 
Bar. 'T was he ! 

How could he guess ? — 'sdeath ! if he should be- 
tray us. 
His hate to Richelieu dies with Richelieu — and 
He was not great enough for treason. — Hence ! 
^ Find Mauprat — beg, steal, filch, or force it back. 

Or, as I live, the halter 

Fran. By the morrow 80 

I will regain it, {aside) and redeem my honor ! 

\_Exit Francois, 
Orl. Oh, we are lost — 
Bar. Not so ! But cause on cause 

For Mauprat's seizure — silence — death! Take 
courage. 
Orl. Should it once reach the King, the Cardinal's arm 

Could smite us from the grave. 
Bar. Sir, think it not ! 

I hold De Mauprat in my grasp. To-morrow, 
And France is ours ! Thou dark and fallen Angel, 
Whose name on earth 's Ambition — thou that mak'st 
83 



ACT III. sc. 4. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Thy throne on treasons, stratagems, and murder — 
And with thy fierce and blood-red smile canst quench 
The guiding stars of solemn empire — hear us 90 
(For we are thine) — and light us to the goal ! 



84 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act iv. sc. i. 



ACT IV. 

THIRD DAY. 

Scene I. — The Gardens of the Louvre. — Orleans, Ba- 
radas, De Beringhen, Courtiers, ^'c. 

Orl. How does my brother bear the Cardinal's death ? 
Bar. With grief, when thinking of the toils of State ; 
With joy, when thinking of the eyes of Julie : — 
At times he sighs, "Who now shall govern France ?" 
^ Anon exclaims, " Who now shall baffle Louis ?" 

Enter Louis and other Courtiers. ( They zmcover.) 

Orl. Now, my liege, now, I can embrace a brother. 
Louis. Dear Gaston, yes. — I do believe you love me ; — 

Richelieu denied it — severed us too long. 

A great man, Gaston ! Who shall govern France ? 
Bar. Yourself, my liege. That swart and potent star lo 

Eclipsed your royal orb. He served the country, 

But did he serve, or seek to sway the King? 
[Louis. You 're right — he was an able politician — 

That 's all : — between ourselves. Count, I suspect 

The largeness of his learning — specially 

In falcons'^' a poor huntsman, too ! 
7 85 



ACT IV. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Bar. Ha— ha ! 

Your Majesty remembers 

Lout's. Ay, the blunder 

Between the grejfficr and the souillard when — 

[ Checks and crosses himself. 
Alas ! poor sinners that we are ! we laugh 
While this great man — a priest, a cardinal, 20 t', 

A faithful servant — out upon us ! — 

Bar. Sire, 

If my brow wear no cloud, 't is that the Cardinal 
No longer shades the King. 

Louis {looking up at the shies). O, Baradas ! 

Am I not to be pitied ? — what a day 
For— ^ 

Bar. Sorrow ? — No, sire ! 

Louis. Bah ! for hunting, man, 

And Richelieu's dead ; 't would be an indecorum 
Till he is buried — {_ya7ans) — life is very tedious. 
I made a madrigal on life last week : 
You do not sing,'^^ Count ? — Pity ; you should learn. 
Poor Richelieu had no ear — yet a great man. 30 

Ah ! what a weary weight devolves upon me ! 
These endless wars — these thankless Parliaments — 
The snares in which he tangled States and Kings, 
Like the old fisher of the fable, Proteus, 
Netting great Neptune's wariest tribes, and changing 
Into all shapes when Craft pursued himself: 
O, a great man ! 

86 < 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act iv. sc. i. 

Bar. Your royal mother said so, 

And died in exile. 

Louis {sadiy). True : I loved my mother/-^* 

Bar. The Cardinal dies. — Yet day revives the earth ; 
The rivers run not back. In truth, my liege, 40 
Did your high orb on others shine as him, 
I Why, things as dull in their own selves as I am 

Would glow as brightly with the borrowed beam.'^^ 

Louis. Ahem ! — He was too stern. 

Or I. A very Nero. 

Bar. His power was like the Capitol of old — 
Built on a human skull. 

Louis. And, had he lived, 

I know another head, my Baradas, 
That would have propped the pile: I 've seen him 

eye thee 
With a most hungry fancy. 

Bar. {anxiously). Sire, I knew 

You would protect me. 

Louis. Did you so ? of course ! 50 

And yet he had a way with him — a something 

That always But no matter — he is dead. 

And, after all, men called his King " The Just,"^® 
And so I am. Dear Count, this silliest Julie, 
I know not why, she takes my fancy. Many 
As fair, and certainly more kind ; but yet 
It is so. Count, I am no lustful Tarquin, 
And do abhor the bold and frontless vices 
87 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act iv. sc. i. 

Which the Church justly censures ; yet, 't is sad 
On rainy days to drag out weary hours" — 60 

Deaf to the music of a woman's voice — 
Blind to the sunshine of a woman's eyes. 
It is no sin in Kings to seek amusement; 
And that is all I seek. I miss her much — 
She has a silver laugh — a rare perfection. 
Bar. Richelieu was most disloyal in that marriage.] 
Louis {querulously). He knew that Juhe pleased me: — a 
clear proof 
He never loved me ! 
Bar. O, most clear ! — But now 

No bar between the lady and your will ! 
This writ makes all secure : a week or two 70 

In the Bastile will sober Mauprat's love, 
And leave him eager to dissolve a hymen 
That brings him such a home. 
Louis. See to it, Count. 

S^Exit Bar ad as. 
I '11 summon Julie back. A word with you. 

[ Takes aside First Courtier atid Dd Beringhen, 
aiid passes, conversitig with them, thr'ough 
the Gardens. 

Eftter Francois. 
Fran. All search, as yet, in vain for Mauprat ! — Not 
At home since yesternoon — a soldier told me 
He saw him pass this way with hasty strides ; 
88 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act iv. sc. i. 

» 

Should he meet Baradas — they 'd rend it from him — 
And then — benignant Fortune, smile upon me — 
I am thy son ! — if thou desert'st me now, 80 

Come, Death, and snatch me from disgrace. But, no, 
There 's a great Spirit ever in the air 
That from prolific and far-spreading wings 
, Scatters the seeds of honor — yea, the walls 

And moats of castled forts — the barren seas — 
The cell wherein the pale-eyed student holds 
Talk with melodious science — all are sown 
With everlasting honors, if our souls 
Will toil for fame as boors for bread — 

Enter Mauprat. 
De Maup. O, let me — 

Let me but meet him foot to foot — I '11 dig 90 

The Judas from his heart ; — albeit the King 

Should o'er him cast the purple ! 
Fran. Mauprat ! hold : — 

Where is the 

De Maup. Well ! What wouldst thou ? 

Fran. The despatch ! 

The packet. — Look on me — I serve the Cardinal ; 

You know me. — Did you not keep guard last night 

By Marion's house ? 
De Maup. I did ; — no matter now ! — 

They told me, he was here ! — 
Fran. O joy ! quick — quick — 

The packet thou didst wrest from me ? 
89 



ACT IV. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

De Maup. The packet ? — 

What, art thou he I deemed the Cardinal's spy 
(Dupe that I was) — and overhearing Marion — loo • 

Fran. The same — restore it ! — haste ! 

De Maiip. I have it not : — 

Methought it but revealed our scheme to Richelieu, 
And, as we mounted, gave it to ^ 

Efiter Bar ad as. 

Stand back ! 
Now, villain ! now — I have thee ! 

( To Francois) — Hence, Sir ! — Drazu ! 
Fran. Art mad ? — the King's at hand ! leave him to 
Richelieu ! 
Speak — the despatch — to whom — 
De Maup. {dashing him aside, a7id rushing to Baradas). 

Thou triple slanderer ! 
I '11 set my heel upon thy crest ! \^A few passes. 

Fran. Fly — fly ! — 

The King !— 

Enter at one side Louis, Orleans, De Berijighen, Court- 
iers, &^c. ; at the other, the Guards hastily. 
Louis. Swords drawn — before our very palace ! — 

Have our laws died with Richelieu ? 
Bar. Pardon, Sire, — 

My crime but self-defence.^* [Aside to King.) It 
is De Mauprat ! no 

Louis. Dare he thus brave us ? 

[Baradas goes to the Guard, and gives the writ. 
90 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act iv. sc. i. 

De Maup. Sire, in the Cardinal's name — 

Bar. Seize him — disarm — to the Bastile ! 

\^De Mauprat seized, struggles with the Guard — 

Francois restlessly endeavoring to pacify and 

speak to him — when the gates open. Enter 

Richelieu — Joseph— followed by Arquebiisiers. 

Bar. The Dead 

Returned to Hfe ! 
Louis. What ! a 7nock death ! this tops 

The Infinite of Insult. 
De Maup. {breaking from the Guards) . Priest and Hero ! — 

For you are both — protect the truth ! — 
Rich, {taking the writ from the Guard). What 's this ? 
De Ber. Fact in philosophy. Foxes have got 

Nine lives, as well as cats ! — 
Bar. Be firm, my liege, 

Louis. I have assumed the sceptre — I will wield it ! 
Jos. The tide runs counter — there '11 be shipwreck some- 
where. 
\Baradas ajid Orleans keep close to the King, whis- 
pering atid prompti7tg him when Richelieu speaks. 
Rich. High treason — Faviaux ! still that stale pretence ! 
My liege, bad men (ay, Count, most knavish men !) 
Abuse your royal goodness. — For this soldier, 122 
France hath none braver — and his youth's hot folly. 
Misled — (by \^h.ovi\ your Highness TdS-Y conjecture !) — 
Is long since cancelled by a loyal manhood. — 
I, Sire, have pardoned him. 
91 



ACT IV. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Louis. And we do give 

Your pardon to the winds. — Sir, do your duty i 
Rich. What, Sire ? — you do not know — O, pardon me — 
You know not yet, that this brave, honest heart 
Stood between mine and murder ! — Sire ! for my 
sake — 1 30 

For your old servant's sake — undo this wrong. 
See, let me rend the sentence. 
Louis. At your peril ! 

This is too much : — Again, Sir, do your duty ! 
Rich. Speak not, but go : — I would not see young 
Valor 
So humbled as gray Service. 
De Maup. Fare you well. 

Save Julie, and console her. 
Fran, {aside to Alaupfat). The despatch ! 

Your fate, foes, life, hang on a word ! — to whom ? 
De Maup. To Huguet. 

Fran. Hush — keep counsel ! — silence — hope ! 

[Exemit Mauprat and Guard. 
Bar. {aside to Francois^. Has he the packet ? 
Fran. He will not reveal — 139 

{Aside,) Work, brain 1 — beat, heart ! — " There ^s 710 
such word as fail F' [Fxit Francois. 

Rich, {fiercely). Room, my Lords, room ! — the Minister 
of France 
Can need no intercession with the King. 

[ They fall back. 
92 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act iv. sc. i. 

Louis. What means this false report of death, Lord Car- 
dinal ? 
Rich. Are you then angered, Sire, that I live still? 
Louis. No ; but such artifice — 
Rich. Not mine : — look elsewhere ! 

Louis — my castle swarmed with the assassins. 
Bar. {advancing). We have punished them already. 
Huguet now 

In the Bastile. — Oh ! my Lord, we were prompt 

To avenge you — we were — 
Rich. We ?— Ha ! ha !• you hear, 

My liege ! What page, man, in the last court gram- 
mar 1 50 

Made you a plural ? Count, you have seized the 
hirelifig : — 

Sire, shall I name the 7naster f 
Louis. Tush ! my Lord, 

The old contrivance : — ever does your wit 

Invent assassins, — that ambition may 

Slay rivals — 
Rich. Rivals, Sire, in what ? 

Service to France ? I have none ! Lives the man 

Whom Europe, paled before your glory, deems 

Rival to Armand Richelieu ? 
Louis. What, so haughty ! 

Remember, he who made can unmake. 
Rich. Never ! 

Never ! Your anger can recall your trust, 160 

93 



ACT IV. sc. 1. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Annul my office, spoil me of my lands, 

Rifle my coffers, — but my name — my deeds, 

Are royal in a land beyond your sceptre ! 

Pass sentence on me, if you will ; from Kings, 

Lo ! I appeal to time ! [Be just, my liege — 

I found your kingdom rent with heresies 

And bristling with rebellion ; lawless nobles 

And breadless serfs ; England fomenting discord ; 

Austria — her clutch on your dominion ; Spain 

Forging the prodigal gold of either Ind 170 

To armed thunderbolts. The Arts lay dead. 

Trade rotted in your marts, your Armies mutinous, 

Your Treasury bankrupt. Would you now revoke 

Your trust, so be it ! and I leave you, sole 

Supremest Monarch of the mightiest realm, * 

From Ganges to the Icebergs : — Look without ; 

No foe not humbled ! — Look within ; the Arts 

Quit for your schools their old Hesperides, 

The golden Italy ! while through the veins 

Of your vast empire flows in strengthening tides 180 

Trade, the calm health of nations ! 

Sire, I know c 

Your smoother courtiers please you best — nor meas- 
ure 
Myself with them, — yet sometimes I would doubt 
If Statesmen rocked and dandled into power 
Could leave such legacies to kings ! 

[Louis appears irresolute. 
94 « 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act iv. sc. i. 

i» 

Bar. {passing him, whispers). But Julie, 

Shall I not summon her to court ?] 
Louis {motions to Baradas a7id turns haughtily to the 
Cardinal). Enough! 

Your Eminence must excuse a longer audience. 
To your own palace :— For our conference, this 
Nor place —nor season. 
Rich. Good my liege, for /«5/zV^ 

All place a temple, and all season, summer!— 190 
Do you deny me justice ?— Saints of Heaven ! 
He turns from me \—Do you deny me justice ? 
For fifteen years, while in these hands dwelt Empire, 
The humblest craftsman— the obscurest vassal— 
The very leper shrinking from the sun, 
' Though loathed by Charity, might ask for justice !— 

Not with the fawning tone and crawling mien 
Of some I see around you— Counts and Princes— 
Kneehng for favors ; but, erect and loud. 
As men who ask man's rights !— my liege, my Louis, 
Do you refuse me justice— audience even— 201 

In the pale presence of the baffled Murder P^^ 
Louis. Lord Cardinal— one by one you have severed 
from me 
The bonds of human love. All near and dear 
Marked out for vengeance— exile or the scaffold. 
You find me now amidst my trustiest friends, 
My closest kindred ;— you would tear them from me ; 
They murder /<7^/ forsooth, since me they love ! 
95 



ACT IV. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Enough of plots and treasons for one reign ! 
Home ! — Home ! and sleep away these phantoms ! 

Rich. Sire ! 210 

I patience, Heaven ! — sweet Heaven ! — Sire, 

from the foot 
Of that Great Throne, these hands have raised aloft 
On an Olympus, looking down on mortals 
And worshipped by their awe — before the foot 
Of that high throne, — spurn you the gray-haired 

man 
Who gave you empire — and now sues for safety ? 

Louis. No : — when we see your Eminence in truth 
At \^^ foot of the throne — we '11 listen to you. 

\Exit Louis. 

Orl. Saved ! 

Bar. For this, deep thanks to Julie and to Mauprat ! 

Rich. My Lord de Baradas — I pray your pardon — 220 
You are to be my successor ! — your hand, Sir ! 

Bar. [aside). What can this mean ? — 

Rich. It trembles, see ! it trembles ! 

The hand that holds the destinies of nations 
Ought to shake less ! — poor Baradas — poor France ! 

Bar. Insolent \Exuettt Baradas and Orleans. 

SCENE II. 

Rich. Joseph — Did you hear the King ? 

Jos. I did — there 's danger ! Had you been less haugh- 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act iv. sc. a. 

Rich. And suffered slaves to chuckle—" See the Cardi- 
nal — 

How meek his Eminence is to-day !" — I tell thee 

This is a strife in which the loftiest look 

Is the most subtle armor 

Jos. But 

Rich. No time 

For ifs and buts. I will accuse these traitors ! 

Francois shall witness that De Baradas 

Gave him the secret missive for De Bouillon, 

And told him life and death were in the scroll. lo 

I will— I will— 
Jos. Tush ! Francois is your creature ; 

So they will say, and laugh at you \—your witness 

Must be that same Despatch. 
Rich. Away to Marion ! 

Jos. I have been there— she is seized — removed— im- 
prisoned — 

By the Count's orders. 
Rich. Goddess of bright dreams, 

My country — shalt thou lose me now, when most 

Thou need' St thy worshipper ? My native land ! 

Let me but ward this dagger from thy heart. 

And die — but on thy bosom ! 
Enter Julie. 
Jul, Heaven ! I thank thee ! 

It cannot be, or this all-powerful man 20 

Would not stand idly thus. 
97 



ACT IV. sc. 3. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Rich. What dost thou here ? 

Home ! 

Ji{l. Home ! — is Adrien there ? — you 're dumb — yet 
strive 
For words ; I see them trembhng on your hp, 
But choked by pity. It 7uas truth — all truth ! 
Seized — the Bastile — and in your presence, too I 
Cardinal, where is Adrien ? — Think — he saved 
Your life : — your name is infamy, if wrong 
Should come to his ! 

Rich. Be soothed, child. 

Jul. Child no more ; 

I love, and I am woman ! Hope and suffer — 
Love, suffering, hope, — what else doth make the 
strength 30 

And majesty of woman ? — Where is Adrien ? 

Rich, {to Joseph). Your youth was never young— you 
never loved : — 
Speak to her — 

Jos. Nay, take heed — the King's command, 

'T is true — I mean — the — 

////. {to Richelieu). Let thine eyes meet mine ; 

Answer me but one word — I am a wife — 
I ask thee for my home — my fate — my all ! 
Where is my husband ? 

Rich. You are Richelieu's ward, 

A soldier's bride : they who insist on truth 
Must outface fear ; — you ask me for your husband ? 
98 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act iv. sc. 2. 

There — where the clouds of heaven look darkest, o'er 
The domes of the Bastile ! 41 

Jul. I thank you, father ; 

You see I do not shudder. Heaven forgive you 
The sin of this desertion I 

Rich, {detaining her). Whither wouldst thou ? 

Jul. Stay me not. Fie ! I should be there already. 
I am thy ward, and haply he may think 
Thou 'st taught me also to forsake the wretched ! 

Rich. I 've filled those cells — with many — traitors all. 
Had they wives too ? Thy memories, Power, are 

solemn ! 
Poor sufferer ! — think'st thou that yon gates of woe 
Unbar to love ? Alas ! if love once enter, 50 

'Tis for the last farewell ; between those walls 
And the mute grave^^ — the blessed household 

sounds 
Only heard once — while, hungering at the door, 
The headsman whets the axe. 

Jul. O mercy ! mercy ! 

Save him, restore him, father ! Art thou not 
The Cardinal-King ? — the Lord of life and death — 
Beneath whose hght, as deeps beneath the moon. 
The solemn tides of Empire ebb and flow ? — 
Art thou not Richelieu ? 

Rich. Yesterday I was ! — 

To-day, a very weak old man ! — To-morrow, 60 

I know not what ! 

L.ofC. 99 



ACT IV. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

y«/. Do you conceive his meaning ? 

Alas ! I cannot. But, methinks, my senses 
Are duller than they were ! 

/os. The King is chafed 

Against his servant. Lady, while we speak, 
The lackey of the anteroom is not 
More powerless than the Minister of France. 

{Rich. And yet the air is still ; Heaven wears no 
cloud ; 
From Nature's silent orbit starts no portent 
To warn the unconscious world ; — albeit this night 
May with a morrow teem which, in my fall, 70 

Would carry earthquake to remotest lands, 
And change the Christian globe. What wouldst 

thou, woman ? 
Thy fate and his, with mine, for good or ill, 
Are woven threads. In my vast sum of life 
MilHons such units merge.] 

Enter First Courtier. 

First Cour. Madame de Mauprat ! 

Pardon, your Eminence — even now I seek 
This lady's home — commanded by the King 
To pray her presence. 

Jul. [clinging to Richelieu^. Think of my dead father ! — 
Think how, an infant, clinging to your knees. 
And looking to your eyes, the wrinkled care 80 

Fled from your brow before the smile of childhood, 
100 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act iv. sc.a. 

Fresh from the dews of heaven ! Think of this, 
And take me to your breast. 

Rich. To those who sent you ! — 

And say you found the virtue they would slay 
Here — couched upon this heart, as at an altar, 
And sheltered by the wings of sacred Rome ! 
Begone ! 

First Cour. My Lord, I am your friend and servant — 
Misjudge me not; but never yet was Louis 
So roused against you :— shall I take this answer ?— 
It were to be your foe. 

Rich. All time my foe, 90 

If I, a Priest, could cast this holy Sorrow 
Forth from her last asylum ! 

First Cour. He is lost ! 

YExit First Courtier. 

Rich. God help thee, child !— she hears not ! Look upon 
her! 
The storm, that rends the oak, uproots the flower. 
Her father loved me so ! and in that age 
When friends are brothers ! She has been to me 
Soother, nurse, plaything, daughter. Are these 

tears ?^^ 
O shame, shame !— dotage ! 

Jos. Tears are not for eyes 

That rather need the lightning, which can pierce 
Through barred gates and triple walls, to smite 100 
Crime, where it cowers in secret ! — The Despatch ! 
8 loi 



ACT IV. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Set every spy to work ; — the morrow's sun 
Must see that written treason in your hands, 
Or rise upon your ruin. 
J^ic/i. Ay — and close 

Upon my corpse ! — I am not made to live — 
Friends, glory, France, all reft from me ; — my star 
Like some vain holiday mimicry of fire. 
Piercing imperial heaven, and falling down, 
Rayless and blackened, to the dust — a thing 
For all men's feet to trample ! Yea ! — to-morrow i lo 
Triumph or death ! Look up, child ! — Lead us, 
Joseph. 

[As they are going out, enter Baradas and De Beringhen. 

Bar. My Lord, the King cannot believe your Eminence 
So far forgets your duty, and his greatness. 
As to resist his mandate ! Pray you. Madam, 
Obey the King — no cause for fear ! 

Jul. My father ! 

Rich. She shall not stir ! 

Bar. You are not of her kindred — 

An orphan — 

Rich. And her country is her mother I 

Bar. The country is the King ! 

Rich. Ay, is it so ? — 

Then wakes the power which in the age of iron 
Burst forth to curb the great, and raise the low. 120 
Mark, where she stands ! — around her form I draw 
102 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act iv. sc. a. 

The awful circle of our solemn Church ! 

Set but a foot within that holy ground, 

And on thy head — yea, though it wore a crown — 

I launch the curse of Rome ! 

Bar. I dare not brave you ! 

I do but speak the orders of my King. 
The Church, your rank, power, very word, my Lord, 
Suffice you for resistance : — blame yourself. 
If it should cost you power ! 

Rich. That my stake. — Ah ! 

Dark gamester ! what is thine f Look to it well ! — 
Lose not a trick. — By this same hour to-morrow 131 
Thou shalt have France, or I thy head ! 

Bar. {aside to De Beringhen). He cannot 

Have the Despatch ? 

De Ber. No : were it so, your stake 

Were lost already. 

Jos. (aside). Patience is your game : 

Reflect, you have not the Despatch ! 

Bich. O monk ! 

Leave patience to the saints — for /am human ! 
Did not thy father die for France, poor orphan ? 
And now they say thou hast no father ! — Fie ! 
Art thou not pure and good ? — if so, thou art 
A part of that — the Beautiful, the Sacred — 140 

Which, in all climes, men that have hearts adore. 
By the great title of their mother country ! 

Bar. {aside). He wanders ! 

103 



ACT IV. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Rich. So cling close unto my breast, 

Here where thou droop' st lies France ! I am very 
feeble — 

Of little use it seems to either now. 

Well, well — we will go home. 
Bar. In sooth, my Lord, 

You do need rest — the burdens of the State 

O'ertask your health ! 
Rich, {to Joseph). I 'm patient, see! 

Bar. {aside). His mind 

And life are breaking fast ! 
Rich, {overhearing hini). Irreverent ribald ! 

If so, beware the falling ruins ! Hark! 150 

I tell thee, scorner of these whitening hairs, 

When this snow melteth there shall come a flood ! 

Avaunt ! my name is Richelieu — I defy thee ! 

Walk blindfold on ; behind thee stalks the headsman. 

Ha ! ha ! — how pale he is ! Heaven save my coun- 
try ! \_Falls back in Joseph's arms. 

\_Baradas exit,Jollo'wedby De Beringhen, betraying 
his exultation by his gestures. 



104 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act v. sc. x. 



ACT V. 

FOURTH DAY. 

Scene I. — The Bastile — a Corridor; in the background 
the door of one of the condemned cells. 

Enter Joseph and Gaoler. 

Gaoler. Stay, father, I will call the governor, 

\^xit Gaoler. 

Jos. He has it then — this Huguet ; — so we learn 

From Francois — Humph ! Now if I can but gain 
One moment's access, all is ours ! The Cardinal 
Trembles 'tween life and death. His hfe is power ; 
Smite one — slay both ! No ^sculapian drugs, 
By learned quacks baptized with Latin jargon, 
E'er bore the healing which that scrap of parchment 
Will medicine to Ambition's flagging heart. 
France shall be saved — and Joseph be a bishop. lo 

Enter Governor ajid Joseph. 

Gov. Father, you wish to see the prisoners Huguet 
And the young knight De Mauprat ? 
loS 



ACT V. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Jos, So my office, 

And the Lord Cardinal's order, warrant, son ! 

Gov. Father, it cannot be : Count Baradas 

Has summoned to the Louvre Sieur de Mauprat. 

Jos. Well, well ! But Huguet— 

Gov. Dies at noon. 

Jos. At noon ! 

No moment to delay the pious rites 
Which fit the soul for death. Quick — quick — 
admit me ! 

Gov. You cannot enter, monk ! Such are my orders ! 

Jos. Orders, vain man ! — the Cardinal still is Minister. 20 
His orders crush all others ! 

Gov. {liftmg his hat). Save his King's ! 

See, monk, the royal sign and seal affixed 
To the Count's mandate. None may have access 
To either prisoner, Huguet or De Mauprat, 
Not even a priest, without the special passport 
Of Count de Baradas. I '11 hear no more ! 

Jos. Just Heaven ! and are we baffled thus ? Despair ! ! 
Think on the Cardinal's power — beware his anger. 

Gov. I '11 not be menaced, Priest ! Besides, the Car- 
dinal 
Is dying and disgraced — all Paris knows it. 30 

You hear the prisoner's knell ! \B ell tolls. 

Jos. I do beseech you — 

The Cardinal is not dying. But one moment. 
And — hist ! — five thousand pistoles ! — 
106 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act v. sc. i. 

Gov. How ! a bribe — 

And to a soldier, gray with years of honor ! 
Begone ! — 

Jos. Ten thousand — twenty ! — 

Gov. Gaoler ! put 

This monk without our walls. 

Jos. By those gray hairs — 

Yea, by this badge {touching the Cross of St. Louis 
worn by the Governor) — 

The guerdon of your valor — 
By all your toils— hard days and sleepless nights- 
Borne in your country's service, noble son — 
Let me but see the prisoner ! — 

Gov. No ! 

Jos. He hath 40 

Secrets of state — papers in which 

Gov. {interrupting). I know- 

Such was his message to Count Baradas : 
Doubtless the Count will see to it ! 

Jos. The Count ! 

Then not a hope !— You shall 

Gov. Betray my trust ! 

Never — not one word more. — You heard me, gaoler ! 

Jos. What can be done ? — Distraction ! Richelieu yet ! 
Must — what? — I know not! — Thought, neive, 

strength, forsake me. 
Dare you refuse the Church her holiest rights ? 

Gov ^ refuse nothing — I obey my orders. 
107 



ACT V. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Jos. And sell your country to her parricides ! 50 

O, tremble yet! — Richelieu 

Gov. Begone ! 

Jos. Undone ! 

\Exit Joseph. 
Gov. A most audacious shaveling — interdicted 

Above all others by the Count. 
Gaoler. I hope, Sir, 

I shall not lose my perquisites. The Sieur 

De Mauprat will not be reprieved ? 
Gov. O, fear not : 

The Count's commands by him who came for Mau- 
prat 

Are to prepare headsman and axe by noon ; 

The Count will give you perquisites enough — 

Two deaths in one day ! 
Gaoler. Sir, may Heaven reward him ! 

O, by the way, that troublesome young fellow, 60 

Who calls himself the prisoner Huguet's son, 

Is here again — implores, weeps, raves to see him. 
Gov. Poor youth, I pity him ! 

Enter De Bermghen, followed by Francois. 

De Ber. {to Francois). Now, prithee, friend. 

Let go my cloak ; you really discompose me. 

Fran. No, they will drive me hence : my father ! Oh ! 
Let me but see him once — but once — one moment ! 
108 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act v. sc. i 

De Ber. [to Governor). Your servant, Messire ; this poor 
rascal, Huguet, 

Has sent to see the Count de Baradas 

Upon state secrets, that afflict his conscience. 

The Count can't leave his Majesty an instant: 70 

I am his proxy. 
^ Gov. The Count's word is law ! 

Again, young scapegrace ! How com'st thou ad- 
mitted ? 
De Ber. Oh ! a most fihal fellow : Huguet' s son ! 

I found him whimpering in the court below. 

I pray his leave to say good-by to father, 

Before that very long, unpleasant journey, 

Father 's about to take. Let him wait here 

Till I return. 
Fran. No ; take me with you. 

De Ber. Nay; 

After 7ne, friend — the Public first ! 
Gov. The Count's 

Commands are strict. No one must visit Huguet 80 

Without his passport. 
De Ber. Here it is ! Pshaw ! nonsense ! 

I '11 be your surety. See, my Cerberus, 

He is no Hercules ! 
Gov. Well, you 're responsible. 

Stand there, friend. If, when you come gut, my 
Lord, 

The youth slip in, 't is^^^^r fault. 
109 



ACT V. sc. I. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

De Ber. So it is ! 

\Exitthro7tgh the door of the cclljollowedby the Gaoler. 

Go7>. Be calm, my lad. Don't fret so. I had once 
A father, too ! I '11 not be hard upon you, 
And so, stand close. I must not see you enter : 
You understand ! Between this innocent youth 
And that intriguing monk there is, in truth, 90 

A wide distinction. 

Re-enter Gaoler. 

Come, we '11 go our rounds ; 
I '11 give you just one quarter of an hour ; 
And if my Lord leave first, make my excuse. 
Yet stay, the gallery 's long and dark : no sentry 
Until he reach the grate below. He 'd best 
Wait till I come. If he should lose the way. 
We may not be in call. 
Fran. I '11 tell him. Sir. 

[Exeunt Governor and Gaoler. 
He 's a wise son that knoweth his own father. 
I 've forged a precious one ! So far, so well ! 
Alas ! what then ? this wretch hath sent to Baradas — 
Will sell the scroll to ransom life. O Heaven ! loi 
On what a thread hangs hope ! {^Listens at the door. 

Loud words — a cry ! 
S^Looks through the keyhole. 
They struggle ! Ho ! — the packet ! ! ! 

[ Tries to open the door. 

Lost ! He has it— 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act v. sc. 2. 

The courtier has it — Huguet, spite his chains, 
Grapples ! — well done ! Now — now ! [^Draws back. 

The gallery 's long — 
And this is left us ! 

[Drawing his dagger, and standing behind the door. 
Re-e7iter De Beringhen, with the packet. 

Victory ! — Yield it robber — 
Yield it — or die — \A short struggle. 

De Ber. Off! ho !— there !— 

Fran, [grappling with him). Death or honor ! 

{^Exeunt struggling. 

SCENE II. 

The Ki?igs closet at the Louvre. A suit of rooms in per- 
spective at one side. 

Baradas and Orleans. 

Bar. All smiles ! the Cardinal's swoon of yesterday 

Heralds his death to-day. Could he survive, 

It would not be as minister — so great 

The King's resentment at the priest's defiance ! 

All smiles ! — And yet, should this accursed De 
Mauprat 

Have given our packet to another — 'Sdeath ! 

I dare not think of it ! 
Orl. You Ve sent to search him ? 

Bar. Sent, Sir, to search ? — that hireling hands may find 

Upon him, naked, with its broken seal, 
III 



ACT V. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

That scroll, whose every word is death ! No — No — 
These hands alone must clutch that awful secret. 1 1 
I dare not leave the palace, night nor day, 
While Richelieu lives — his minions — creatures — 

spies — 
Not one must reach the King ! 

Or/. What hast thou done ? 

Bar. Summoned De Mauprat hither. 

Or/. Could this Huguet, 

Who prayed thy presence with so fierce a fervor. 
Have thieved the scroll ? 

Bar. Huguet was housed with us, 

The very moment we dismissed the courier. 
It cannot be ! a stale trick for reprieve. 
But, to make sure, I 've sent our trustiest friend 20 
To see and sift him — Hist ! — here comes the King — 
How fare you. Sire ? 

Enter Louis. 

Louis. In the same mind. I have 

Decided ! — Yes, he would forbid your presence. 
My brother — yours, my friend, — then Julie, too ! 
Thwarts — braves — defies — {sudde7i/y turning- to 

Baradas). We make you minister. 
Gaston, for you — the baton of our armies. 
You love me, do you not ? 

Or/. O, love you, Sire ? 

{Aside.) Never so much as now. 
112 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act v. sc. 2. 

Bar. May I deserve 

Your trust {aside) until you sign your abdication ! 
My liege, but one way left to daunt De Mau- 
prat, 30 

And Julie to divorce. — We must prepare 
The death-writ ; what, though signed and sealed ? 
^ we can 

Withhold the enforcement. 
Louis. Ah, you may prepare it ; 

We need not urge it to effect. 
Bar. Exactly ! 

No haste, my liege. {Looking at his watch, and 
aside.) He may live one hour longer. 

* E7iter Courtier. 

Cour. The Lady Julie, Sire, implores an audience. 
Louis. Aha ! repentant of her folly ! — Well, 

Admit her. 
Bar. Sire, she comes for Mauprat's pardon, 

And the conditions 

Louis. You are minister — 

We leave to you our answer. 

\As Julie enters, the Captain of the Archers by 
another door, and whispers Baradas. 
Capt. The Chevalier 40 

De Mauprat waits below. 
Bar. [aside). Now the despatch ! 

\^Exit with Officer. 
113 



ACT V. sc. 2. Richelieu; or, the Conspiracy 

Enter Julie. 
Jul. My liege, you sent for me. I come where Grief 

Should come when guiltless, while the name of 
King 

Is holy on the earth ! Here, at the feet 

Of Power, I kneel for mercy. 
Louis. Mercy, Julie, 

Is an affair of state. The Cardinal should 

In this be your interpreter. 
Jul. Alas ! 

I know not if that mighty spirit now 

Stoop to the things of earth. Nay, while I speak, 

Perchance he hears the orphan by the throne 50 

Where Kings themselves need pardon ; O my 
liege. 

Be father to the fatherless ; in you 

Dwells my last hope ! 

Enter Baradas. 

Bar. {aside). He has not the despatch ; 

Smiled while we searched, and braves me.— Oh ! 
Louis ( gently). What wouldst thou ? 

Jul. A single life. — You reign o'er millions. — What 

Is one jnan' s life to you ? — and yet to me 

'T is France — 't is earth — 't is everything ! — a life, 

A human life — my husband's. 
Louis {aside.) Speak to her, 

I am not marble, — give her hope — or — 
114 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act v. sc. 2. 

Bar, Madam, 

Vex not your King, whose heart, too soft for justice, 
Leaves to his ministers that solemn charge. 61 

\_Louis walks up the stage, 

Jul. You were his friend. 

Bar. I was before I loved thee. 

ft Jul. Loved me ! 

Bar. Hush, Julie : couldst thou misinterpret 

My acts, thoughts, motives, nay, my very words. 
Here — in this palace ? 

Jul. Now I know I 'm mad ; 

Even that memory failed me. 

Bar. I am young, 

Well-born and brave as Mauprat : — for thy sake 

I peril what he has not — fortune — power ; 

All to great souls most dazzling. I alone 

Can save thee from yon tyrant, now my puppet ! 70 

Be mine ; annul the mockery of this marriage. 

And on the day I clasp thee to my breast 

De Mauprat shall be free. 

Jul. Thou durst not speak 

Thus in his ear {pointing to Louis). Thou double 

traitor ! — tremble ! 
I will unmask thee. 

Bar. I will say thou ravest. 

And see this scroll ! its letters shall be blood ! 
Go to the King, count with me word for word ; 
And while you pray the life — I write the sentence ! 
"5 



ACT V. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

De Maup. Once more ! — 

Why this is mercy, Count ! Oh, think, my JuHe, 
Life, at the best, is short, — but love immortal ! 

Bar. [takuig Julie s haiid). Ah, loveliest — 

Jul. Go, that touch has made me iron. 

We have decided — death ! 

Bar. {to De Maupraf). Now say to whom 

Thou gavest the packet, and thou yet shalt live. 

De Maup. I '11 tell thee nothing ! 

Bar. Hark, — the rack ! 

De Maup. Thy penance 

For ever, wretch ! — What rack is like the conscience ? 

Jul. I shall be with thee soon. 121 

Bar. {giving the writ to the Officer). Hence, to the 
headsman ! 
[ The doors are thrown open . The Hiiissier announces 
" His Eminence the Cardinal Due de Richelieu.'' 

Enter Richelieu, attetidedby Gentlemen, Pages, &^c.,pale, 
Jeeble, and leaning on Joseph, Jollowed by three Secre- 
taries oj State, attended by Sub-Secretaries with 
papers, &^c. 

Jul. {rushing to Richelieu). You live — you live — and 
Adrien shall not die ! 

Rich. Not if an old man's prayers, himself near death, 

Can aught avail thee, daughter ! Count, you now 

Hold what I held on earth :— one boon, my Lord, 

This soldier's hfe. 

118 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act v. sc. 2. 

Bar. The stake,— my head ! — you said it. 

I cannot lose one trick. — Remove your prisoner. 
Jul. No!— No!— 

Enter Louis from the rooms beyond. 

Rich, {to Officer). Stay, Sir, one moment. My good liege, 
^ Your worn-out servant, willing. Sire, to spare you 

Some pain of conscience, would forestall your wishes. 
I do resign my office. 131 

De Maup. You ! 

Jul. All 's over ! 

Rich. My end draws near. These sad ones, Sire, I love 
them. 
I do not ask his Hfe ; but suffer justice 
* To halt, until I can dismiss his soul, 

Charged with an old man's blessing. 

Louis. Surely ! 

Bar. Sire 

Louis. Silence— small favor to a dying servant. 

Rich. You would consign your armies to the baton 
Of your most honored brother. Sire, so be it 1 
Your minister, the Count de Baradas ; 
A most sagacious choice ! — Your Secretaries 140 
Of State attend me, Sire, to render up 
The ledgers of a realm. — I do beseech you, 
Suffer these noble gentlemen to learn 
The nature of the glorious task that waits them, 
Here, in my presence. 

119 



ACT V. sc. 2. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

r> 
De Maup. Once more ! — 

Why this is mercy, Count ! Oh, think, my Julie, 

Life, at the best, is short, — but love immortal I 
Bar. {taking Julie s hajid). Ah, loveliest — 
Jul. Go, that touch has made me iron. 

We have decided — death ! 
Bar. {to De Mauprat). Now say to whom 

Thou gavest the packet, and thou yet shalt live. 
De Maup, I '11 tell thee nothing ! 
Bar. Hark, — the rack ! 

De Maup. Thy penance 

For ever, wretch ! — What rack is like the conscience ? 
Jul. I shall be with thee soon. 121 

Bar. {giving the writ to the Office}'). Hence, to the 
headsman ! * 

[ The doors are thrown open . The Huissier announces 
' ' His Eminence the Cardinal Due de Richelieu.' ' 

Enter Richelieu, attended by Gentlemen, Pages, &>c.,pale, 
Jeeble, and leaning on Joseph, Jollowed by three Secre- 
taries of State, attended by Sub- Secretaries with 
papers, &^c. 

Jul. {rushing to Richelieu). You live — you live — and 

Adrien shall not die ! 
Rich. Not if an old man's prayers, himself near death. 
Can aught avail thee, daughter ! Count, you now 
Hold what I held on earth : — one boon, my Lord, 
This soldier's life. 

118 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act v. sc. 2. 

^i 

Bar. The stake, — my head ! — you said it. 

I cannot lose one trick. — Remove your prisoner. 
Jul. No!— No!— 

Enter Louis from the rooms beyond. 

Rich, {to Officer). Stay, Sir, one moment. My good liege, 
, Your worn-out servant, willing. Sire, to spare you 

Some pain of conscience, would forestall your wishes. 
I do resign my office. 131 

De Maup. You ! 

Jul. AH 's over ! 

Rich. My end draws near. These sad ones, Sire, I love 
them. 
I do not ask his Hfe ; but suffer justice 
' To halt, until I can dismiss his soul, 

Charged with an old man's blessing. 

Louis. Surely ! 

Bar. Sire 

Louis. Silence— small favor to a dying servant. 

Rich. You would consign your armies to the baton 
Of your most honored brother. Sire, so be it ! 
Your minister, the Count de Baradas ; 
A most sagacious choice ! — Your Secretaries 140 
Of State attend me, Sire, to render up 
The ledgers of a realm. — I do beseech you. 
Suffer these noble gentlemen to learn 
The nature of the glorious task that waits them, 
Here, in my presence. 

119 



ACT V. sc 3- Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Louis. You say well, my Lord. 

[ To Secretaries, as he seats himself. 
Approach, Sirs. 
Rich. I — I — faint! — air — air! 

\^ Joseph and a Gentleman assist him to a sofa, placed 
beneath a window. 

I thank you — 
Draw near, my children. 
Bar. He 's too weak to question. 

Nay, scarce to speak ; all 's safe. 

SCENE III. 

Manent Richelieu, Mauprat, aiid Julie, the last kneeling 
beside the Cardi?tal ; the Officer of the Guard behind ^ 
Mauprat. Joseph near Richelieu, watchino;the King. 
Louis. Baradas at the back of the King" s chair, 
anxious and disturbed. Orleans at a greater dis- 
tance, careless and triu7?ipha?it. The Secretaries. 
As each Secretary advances in his turn, he takes the 
portfolios f'om the Sub-Secretaries. 

First Sec. The affairs of Portugal, 

Most urgent, Sire : one short month since the Duke 
Braganza was a rebel. 
Louis. And is still ! 

First Sec. No, Sire, h^ has succeeded ! He is now 
Crowned King of Portugal — craves instant succor 
Against the arms of Spain. 
1 20 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act v. sc. 3. 

# 

Louis. We will not grant it 

Against his lawful King. Eh, Count ? 
Bar. ' No, Sire. 

First Sec. But Spain 's your deadliest foe : whatever 

Can weaken Spain must strengthen France. The 

Cardinal 

% Would send the succors : — {solemnly) — balance, Sire, 

of Europe ! 10 

Louis. The Cardinal ! — balance ! — We '11 consider. — Eh, 

Count? 
Bar. Yes, Sire ; — fall back. 

First Sec. But 

Bar. Oh! fall back, Sir. 

I Jos. Humph! 

Second Sec. The affairs of England, Sire, most urgent: 
Charles 
The First has lost a battle that decides 
One-half his realm, — craves moneys. Sire, and 
succor. 
Louis. He shall have both. — Eh, Baradas } 
Bar. Yes, Sire. 

(Oh that despatch ! — my veins are fire !) 
Rich, {feebly, but with gj-eat distinctness^. My liege — 
Forgive me — Charles's cause is lost ! A man. 
Named Cromwell, risen, — a great man ! — your suc- 
cor 
Would fail — your loans be squandered ! — Pause — 
reflect.^^ 20 

121 



ACT V. sc. 3 Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Louis. Reflect. — Eh, Baradas ? 

Bar. Reflect, Sire. 

Jos. Humph ! 

Louis {aside). I half repent! — No successor to Riche- 
Heu ! — 
Round me thrones totter ! — dynasties dissolve ! — 
The soil he guards alone escapes the earthquake ! 

Jos. Our star not yet eclipsed ! — you mark the King ? 
Oh ! had we the despatch ! 

Rick. Ah ! Joseph !— Child- 

Would I could help thee ! 

Enter Genileinaji, whispers Joseph, who exit hastily. 

Bar. {to Secretary). Sir, fall back. 

Second Sec. But 

Bar. Pshaw, Sir ! 

Third Sec. {mysteriously). The secret correspondence, 
Sire, most urgent, — 
Accounts of spies — deserters — heretics — 29 

Assassins — poisoners— schemes against yourself! — 
Louis. Myself ! — most urgent ! — {Looking 071 the docu- 
ments^ 
Re-enter Joseph with Francois, whose pourpoint is 
streaked with blood. Francois passes behijid the 
Cardinal' s Attendants, and, sheltered by the?n 
Jrom the sight of Baradas, (Sr^c, falls at Riche- 
lieu's feet. 
Fran. O my Lord ! 

122 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act v. sc. 3. 

Rich. Thou art bleeding ! 

Fnm, A scratch — I have not failed 

[ Gives the packet. 

Rich. Hush !— 

\_Looking at the contents. 
Third Sec. [to King). Sire, the Spaniards 

Have reinforced their army on the frontiers. 

The Due de Bouillon 

Rich. Hold !— In this department— 

A paper— here, Sire,— read yourself— then take 

The Count's advice in 't. 

E7iter De Beringhen hastily, and draws aside Baradas. 

{Richelieu, to Secretary, giving an open parchment. 

Bar. [bursting from De Beringhen). What ! and reft it 
from thee ! 
Ha !— hold ! 

Jos. Fall back, son, it is your turn now ! 

Bar. Death !— the despatch ! 

Louis [readi7ig). To Bouillon— and signed Orleans ! 

Baradas, too ! — league with our foes of Spain ! — 
Lead our Italian armies— what ! to Paris !— 40 

Capture the King— my health requires repose- 
Make me subscribe my proper abdication- 
Orleans, my brother, Regent !— Saints of Heaven ! 
These are the men I loved ! 

[Baradas draws,— attempts to rush out,— is ar- 
123 



ACT V. sc. 3. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

rested. Orleajis, endeavoring to escape more 
quickly, ineets JosepJi s eye, and stops sJiort. 

\Richelieic falls back. 
Jos. See to the Cardinal ! 

Bar. He 's dying ! — and I shall yet dupe the King ! 
Louis [rushifig to Richelieu). Richelieu ! — Lord Cardi- 
nal ! — 't is / resign ! — 
Reign thou ! 
Jos. Alas ! too late ! — he faints ! 

Louis. Reign, Richelieu ! 

Rich, [feebly). With absolute power ? 

Louis. Most absolute ! — Oh ! live ! 

If not for me — for France ! 
Rich. France ! 

Louis. O this treason I — 

The army — Orleans — Bouillon — Heavens ! — the 
Spaniard ! — 50 

Where will they be next week ? 

Rich, {starting up). There, — at my feet ! 

[ To First and Seco7id Secretary. 
Ere the clock strike ! the Envoys have their answer ! 
[ To Third Secretary, with a ring. 
This to De Chavigny — he knows the rest — 
No need of parchment here — he must not halt 
For sleep — for food. — In 7ny name, — mine ! — he will 
Arrest the Due de Bouillon at the head 
Of his army ! — Ho there ! Count de Baradas, 
Thou hast lost the stake ! — Away with him !^* 
124 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act v. sc. 3. 

[As the Guards open the folding-doors, a view of the 
anteroom beyond, lined with Courtiers. Baradas 
passes through the lijie. 

Ha !— ha !— 
\S71atching De Maupraf s death-warrant from the 
Officer. 
^ See here De Maupraf s death-writ, JuHe ! — 

Parchment for battledores ! — Embrace your hus- 
band ! — 60 
At last the old man blesses you ! 
fid. O joy ! 

You are saved; you live — I hold you in th^se arms. 
Maup. Never to part — 

ful. No — never, Adrien — never ! 

Louis (^peevishly). One moment makes a startling cure, 

Lord Cardinal.^^ 
Rich. Ay, Sire, for in one moment there did pass 

Into this withered frame the might of France ! — 
My own dear France— I have thee yet — I have saved 

thee! 
I clasp thee still ! — it was thy voice that called me 
Back from the tomb ! — What mistress like our 
country ! 
Louis. For Mauprat's pardon — well ! But Julie, — Riche- 
lieu, 70 
Leave me one thing to love ! — 
Rich. A subject's luxury ! 
Yet, if you must love something. Sire, — love me / 
125 



ACT V. sc. 3. Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Louis [smiling in spite of himself). Fair proxy for a 

young fresh Demoiselle ! 
Rich. Your heart speaks for my clients : — Kneel, my 
children, 
And thank your King. — 
Jul. Ah, tears like these, my liege. 

Are dews that mount to Heaven, 
Louis. Rise — rise — be happy. 

\_Richelieu beckons to De Beringhen. 
De Be}', [falteringly). My Lord — you are — most — hap- 
pily — recovered. 
Rich. But you are pale, dear Beringhen : — this air 

Suits not your delicate frame — I long have thought 

so : — 
Sleep not another night in Paris : — Go, — 80 

Or else your precious life may be in danger. 
Leave France, dear Beringhen ! 
De Ber. I shall have time. 

More than I asked for, — to discuss the pate. 

\_Exit De Beri7tghen. 

Rich, {to Orleans). For you, repentance — absence — and 

confession ! [ To Francois. 

Never say fail again. — Brave boy ! [ To Joseph. 

He '11 be— 
A bishop first. 
Jos. Ah, Cardinal — 

Rich. Ah, Joseph! 

[ To Louis — as De Mauprat and Julie converse apart. 
126 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy act v. sc. 3. 

•0 

See, my liege — see through plots and counterplots — 
Through gain and loss — through glory and dis- 
grace — 
Along the plains, where passionate Discord rears 
Eternal Babel — still the holy stream 90 

Of human happiness ghdes on ! 
J Lom's. And must we 

Thank for f/iaf also our Prime Minister ? 
Ri'c/i. No — let us own it : — there is One above 
Sways the harmonious mystery of the world, 
Ev'n better than prime ministers ! — 

Alas! 
Our glories float between the earth and heaven 
Like clouds which seem pavilions of the sun, 
And are the playthings of the casual wind ; 
Still, like the cloud which drops on unseen crags 
The dews the wild-flower feeds on, our ambition 100 
May from its airy height drop gladness down 
On unsuspected virtue ; — and the flower 
May bless the cloud when it hath passed away I^^ 



127 



NOTES 

* I. i. 21. Olivares, Minister of Spain. 

2 I. ii. 126. There are many anecdotes of the irony, often so 
terrible, in which Richelieu indulged. But he had a love for 
humor in its more hearty and genial shape. He would send for 
Boisrobert "to make him laugh," — and grave ministers and 
magnates waited in the anteroom, while the great Cardinal lis- 
tened and responded to the sallies of the lively wit. 

' I. ii. 2S8. The Abbe Arnaud tells us that the Queen was a 
little avenged on the Cardinal by the ill success of the tragi- 
comedy of " Mirame" — more than suspected to be his own — 
though presented to the world under the foster-name of Desmarets. 
Its representation (says Pelisson) cost him 300,000 crowns. He 
was so transported out of himself by the performance, that at 
one time he thrust his person half out of his box to show him- 
self to the assembly ; at another time he imposed silence on the 
audience, that they might not lose " des endroits encore plus 
beaux P'' He said afterwards to Desmarets: "Eh bien, les 
Frangais n'auront done jamais de gout. Hs n'ont pas 6te 
charmes de Mirame!" Arnaud says pithily, " On ne pouvoit 
alors avoir d' autre satisfaction des offenses d'un homme qui 
etoit maitre de tout, et redoutable d tout lemonde." Neverthe- 
less his style in prose, though not devoid of the pedantic affecta- 
tions of the time, often rises into very noble eloquence, 
128 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy notes 

* I. ii. 295. Vialart remarque une chose qui peut expliquer la 
conduite de Richelieu en d'autres circonstances : — c'est que las 
seigneurs h qui leur naissance ou leur merite pouvoit permettre des 
pretensions, il avoit pour systeme, de leur accorder au-dela meme 
de leurs droits et de leurs esperances, mais, aussi, une fois 
combles — si, au lieu de reconnoitre ses services lis se levoient 
centre lui, et ils traitoit sans misericorde." — AnqueiiL See 
also the Political Testament, and the Memoires de Cardinal 
Richelieu, in Petitot's collection. 

^ I. ii. 307. " Tantot fanatique — tant6t fourbe — fonder lesre- 
ligieuses de Calvaire— y^z><? des vers.^'' Thus speaks Voltaire of 
Father Joseph. His talents and influence with Richelieu, grossly- 
exaggerated in his own day, are now rightly estimated. 

" C'etoit en effet un homme infatigable — portant dans les en- 
treprises, I'activite, la souplesse, I'opiniatrete propre a les faire 
reussir." — Anquetil. He wrote a Latin poem, called **La 
Turciade," in which he sought to excite the kingdoms of 
Christendom against the Turks. But the inspiration of Tyrtaeus 
was denied to Father Joseph. 

* II. ii. 16. Richelieu not only employed the lowest, but 
would often consult men commonly esteemed the dullest. "II 
disoit que dens des choses de tres grande importance, il avait 
experimente, que les moins sages donnoient souvent les meilleurs 
expediens." — Le Clerc. 

■^11. ii. 18. Both Richelieu and Joseph were originally in- 
tended for the profession of aims. Joseph had served before he 
obeyed the spiritual inspiration to become a Capuchin. The 
death of his brother opened to Richelieu the bishopric of Lugon ; 
but his military propensities were as strong as his priestly ambi- 
129 



NOTES Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

tion. I need scarcely add that the Cardinal, during his brilliant 
campaign in Italy, marched at the head of his troops in complete 
armor. It was under his administration that occurs the last ex- 
ample of proclaiming war by the chivalric defiance of herald and 
cartel. Richelieu valued himself much on his personal activity, — 
for his vanity was as universal as his ambition. A nobleman of 
the house of Grammont one day found him employed xnjtnnping^ 
and, with all the savoir vivre of a Frenchman and a courtier, 
offered to jump against him. He suffered the Cardinal to jump 
higher, and soon after found himself rewarded by an appoint- 
ment. Yet, strangely enough, this vanity did not lead to a pat- 
ronage injurious to the state ; for never before in France was 
ability made so essential a requisite in promotion. He was lucky 
in finding the cleverest fellow among his adroitest flatterers. 

® II. ii. 63. Voltaire openly charges Richelieu with being the 
lover of Marion de Lorme ; and the great poet of France, Victor 
Hugo, has sacrificed History to adorn her with qualities which 
were certainly not added to her personal charms. She was not less 
perfidious than beautiful. Le Clerc, properly, refutes the accusa- 
tion of Voltaire against the discretion of Richelieu, and says, veiy 
justly, that, if the great minister had the frailties of human nature, 
he learnt how to veil them, — at least when he obtained the scar- 
let. In earlier life he had been prone to gallantries which a little 
prepossessed the King (who was formal and decorous, and threw 
a singular coldness into the few attachments he permitted to him- 
self) against the aspiring intriguer. But these gayer occupations 
died away in the engagement of higher pursuits or of darker pas- 
sions. 

* II. ii. 139. Richelieu did in fact so thoroughly associate him- 
130 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy notes 

self with the State, that, in cases where the extreme penalty of the 
law had been incurred, Le Clerc justly observes that he was more 
inexorable to those he had favored — even to his own connections 
— than to other and more indifferent offenders. It must be re- 
membered, as some excuse for his unrelenting sternness, that 
before his time the great had been accustomed to commit any 
disorder with impunity, even the crime of treason; — "aupara- 
vant on ne faisoit poser les armes aux rebelles qu' en leur ac- 
cordant quelque recompense." On entering into the adminis- 
tration, he therefore laid it down as a maxim necessary to the 
existence of the State, that " no crime should be committed 
with impunity." To carry out this maxim, the long-established 
license to crime made even justice seem cruel. But the victims 
most commiserated, from their birth or accomplishments, as 
Montmorenci, or Cinq Mars, were traitors in actual conspiracy 
against their country, and would have forfeited life in any land 
where the punishment of death existed, and the lawgiver was 
strong enough to vindicate the law. Richelieu was in fact a 
patriot unsoftened by philanthropy. As in Venice, (where the 
favorite aphorism was — "Venice first, Christianity next,"*) so, 
with Richelieu, the primary consideration was, ''What will be 
best for the country ?' ' He had no abstract principle, whether 
as a politician or a priest, when applied to the world that lay 
beyond the boundaries of France. Thus he, whose object was 
to found in France a splendid and imperious despotism, assisted 
the Parliamentary party in England, and signed a treaty of alli- 
ance and subsidies with the Catalan rebels for the establishment 

* < * Pria Veneziana, poi Christiane. ' ' 
131 



NOTES Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

of a republic in Barcelona : to convulse other monarchies was 
to consolidate the growing monarchy of France. So he, who 
completely crushed the Protestant party at home, braved all the 
wrath of the Vatican, and even the resentment of the King, in 
giving the most essential aid to the Protestants abroad. There 
was, indeed, a largeness of view in his hostility to the French 
Huguenots, which must be carefully distinguished from the in- 
tolerence of the mere priest. He opposed them, not as a Catho- 
lic, but as a statesman. The Huguenots were strong republicans, 
and had formed plans for dividing France into provincial com- 
monwealths ; and the existence of Rochelle was absolutely in- 
compatible with the integrity of the French monarchy. It was 
a second capital, held by the Huguenots, claiming independent 
authority and the right to treat with foreign powers. Riche- 
lieu' s final conquest was marked by a humanity that had nothing 
of the bigot. The Huguenots obtained a complete amnesty, and 
had only to regret the loss of privileges and fortifications which 
could not have existed with any security to the rest of France. 

^^ H. ii. 164. The guard attached to Richelieu's person was, 
in the first instance, fifty arquebusiers, afterwards increased to 
two companies of cavalry and two hundred musketeers. Huguet 
is therefore to be considered merely as the lieutenant of a small 
detachment of this little army. In point of fact, the subdivisions 
of the guard took it in turns to serve. 

11 II. ii, 225. This tract, on the '*Unity of the Minister," con- 
tains all the doctrines, and many more to the same effect, referred 
to in the text, and had a prodigious influence on the conscience of 
the poor King. At the onset of his career, Richelieu, as deputy 
of the clergy of Poitou, complained in his harangue to the King, 
132 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy notes 

that ecclesiastics were too rarely summoned to the royal coun- 
cils, and invoked the example of the Druids ! 

'2 11. ii. 244. Joseph's ambition was not, however, so moder- 
ate ; he refused a bishopric, and desired the cardinal' s hat, for 
which favor Richeheu openly supplicated the Holy See, but con- 
trived somehow or other never to effect it, although two ambassa- 
dors applied for it at Rome. 

13 II. ii. 246. The peculiar religion of Pere Joseph may be 
illustrated by the following anecdote. An officer, whom he had 
dismissed upon an expedition into Germany, moved by conscience 
at the orders he had received, returned for further explanations, 
and found the Capuchin disant sa messe. He approached and 
whispered, * ' But, my father, if these people defend themselves—' ' 
"Kill all," {Qu' on tu tout,) answered the good father, con- 
tinuing his devotions. 

1* 1 1 1 . i. I . I need not say that the great length of this soliloquy 
adapts it only for the closet, and that but few of the lines are re- 
tained on the stage. To the reader, however, the passages omitted 
in representation will not, perhaps, be the most uninteresting in 
the play, and may be deemed necessary to the completion of the 
Cardinal's portrait,— action on the stage supplying so subtly the 
place of words in the closet. The self-assured sophistries which, 
in the text, mingle with Richelieu's better-founded arguments, 
in apology for the darker traits of his character, are to be found 
scattered throughout the "ritings ascribed to him. The reader 
will observe that in this self-confession lies the latent poetical 
justice, which separates happiness from success. 

15 III. i. 28. Retained in representation. 

16 III. i. 55. It is well known that when, on his death -bed, 

10 133 



NOTES Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

Richelieu was asked if he forgave his enemies, he replied, '^I 
never had any, but those of the Slate." And this was true 
enough, for Richelieu and the State were one. 

^^ III. i. 57. Richelieu's vindication of himself from cruelty- 
will be found in various parts of Petitot's Collection, vols. xxi. 
XXX. {bis). 

18 III. i. 63. Voltaire has a striking passage on the singular 
fate of Richelieu, recalled every hour from his gigantic schemes 
to frustrate some miserable cabal of the anteroom. Richelieu 
would often exclaim, that "Six pieds de terre," as he called 
the king's cabinet, *Mui donnaient plus de peine que tout le 
reste de 1' Europe." The death of Wallenstein, sacrificed by 
the Emperor Ferdinand, produced a most lively impression upon 
Richelieu. He found many traits of comparison between Fer- 
dinand and Louis — Wallenstein and himself. In the Memoirs 
— now regarded by the best authorities as written by his sanc- 
tion, and in great part by himself — the great Frenchman bursts 
(when alluding to Wallenstein' s murder) into a touching and 
pathetic anathema on the misere de cette vie of dependence on 
jealous and timid royalty, which he himself, while he wrote, 
sustained. It is worthy of remark, that it was precisely at the 
period of Wallenstein' s death that Richelieu obtained from the 
king an augmentation of his guard, 

1^ III. i. 88. Richelieu was commonly supposed, though I 
cannot say I find much evidence for it, to have been too pre- 
suming in an interview with Anne of Austria (the Queen), and 
to have bitterly resented the contempt she expressed for him. 
The Duke of Buckingham's frantic and Quixotic passion for 
the Queen is well known. 

134 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy notes 

2° III. i. 164. The fear and the hatred which Richelieu gen- 
erally inspired were not shared by his dependents and those 
about his person, who are said " to have adored him." — " Ses 
domestiques le regardaient comme le meilleur des maitres." — 
Le Clerc. In fact, although " ilitoii orgueilleux et colere,^ — 
he was, ^^ en me vie temps, affable et plein de doticeur dans 
Pabord;''^ and he was no less generous to those who served, 
than severe to those who opposed him. 

21 III. ii. 24. In common with his contemporaries, Richelieu 
was credulous in astrology and less lawful arts. He was too 
fortunate a man not to be superstitious. 

22 IV. i. 16. Louis XIII. is said to have possessed some natu- 
ral talents, and in earlier youth to have exhibited the germs of 
noble qualities ; but a blight seems to have passed over his 
maturer life. Personally brave, but morally timid, — always gov- 
erned, whether by his mother or his minister, and always repining 
at the yoke. The only affection amounting to a passion that he 
betrayed was for the sports of the field ; yet it was his craving 
weakness, (and this throws a kind of false interest over his char- 
acter,) to wish to be loved. He himself loved no one. He 
suffered the only woman who seems to have been attached to him 
to wither in a convent ; — he gave up favorite after favorite to exile 
or the block. When Richelieu died, he said coldly, " Voiliun 
grand politique mort !" and when the ill-fated but unprincipled 
Cinq Mars, whom he called " le cher ami,^^ was beheaded, he 
drew out his watch at the fatal hour, and said with a smile, *' I 
think at this moment that le cher ami fait une vilaine mine^ 
Nevertheless, his conscience at times (for he was devout and 
superstitious) made him gentle, and his pride and honor would 

135 



NOTES Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

often, when least expected, rouse him into haughty but brief 
resistance to the despotism under which he Hved. 

2^ IV. i. 29. Louis had some musical taste and accomplish- 
ment, wherewith he often communicated to his favorites some of 
that wearisome ennui under which he himself almost unceas- 
ingly langviished. 

^■^ IV. i. 38. One of Louis's most bitter complaints against 
Richelieu was the continued banishment of the Queen Mother. 
It is impossible, however, not to be convinced that the return of 
that most worthless intrigante was wholly incompatible with the 
tranquillity of the kingdom. Yet, on the other hand, the poverty 
and privation which she endured in exile are discreditable to 
the 'generosity and the gratitude of Richelieu ; she was his first 
patron, though afterwards his most powerful persecutor. 

^^ IV. i. 43. In his Memoirs, l^ichelieu gives an amusing ac- 
count of the insolence and arts of Baradas, and observes, with 
indignant astonishment, that the favorite was never weary of re- 
pealing to the King that he (Baradas) would have made just as 
great a minister as Richelieu. It is on the attachment of Baradas 
to La Cressias, a maid of honor to the Queen Mother, of whom, 
according to Baradas, the King was enamored also, that his love 
for the Julie de Mortemar of the play has been founded. The 
secret of Baradas' s sudden and extraordinary influence with the 
King seems to rest in the personal adoration which he professed 
for Louis, with whom he affected all the jealousy of a lover, but 
whom he flattered with the ardent chivalry of a knight. Even 
after his disgrace he placed upon his banner, '* Fiat voluntas tua." 

"^^ IV. i. 53. Louis was called The Just, but for no other 
reason than that he was born under the Libra. 
136 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy notes 

^'^ IV. i. 60. Louis XIII. did not resemble either his father or 
his son in the ardor of his attachments ; if not wholly platonic, 
they were wholly unimpassioned : yet no man was more jealous, or 
more unscrupulously tyrannical when the jealousy was aroused. 

28 IV. i. no. OneofRicheHeu's severest and least politic laws 
was that which made duelling a capital crime. Never was the 
punishment against the offence more relentlessly enforced ; and 
never were duels so desperate and so numerous. The punish- 
ment of death must be evidently ineffectual so long as to refuse a 
duel is to be dishonored, and so long as men hold the doctrine, 
however wrong, that it is better to part with the life that Heaven 
gave than the honor man makes. In fact, the greater the danger 
he incurred, the greater was the punctilio of the cavalier of that 
time in braving it. 

29 IV. i. 202. For the haughty and rebuking tone which 
Richelieu assumed in his expostulations with the King, see his 
Memoirs {^passhn) in Petitot's collection, vols. 22-30 [bis). 
Montesquieu in one of his brilliant antitheses, says well of 
Richelieu, " 11 avila le roi, mais il illustra le regne." 

^^ IV. ii. 2. However ^^ orgueilleux " and " colire^^ in his dis- 
putes with Louis, the Cardinal did not always disdain recourse to 
the arts of the courtier; once, after an angry discussion with the 
King, in which, as usual, Richelieu got the better, Louis, as they 
quitted the palace together, said, rudely, ' ' Sortez le premier ; vous 
etes bienle roi de France." " Si je passe le premier," replied the 
minister, after a moment's hesitation, and with gi-eat adroitness, 
" ce ne peut etre que comme le plus humble de vos serviteurs ;" 
and he took flambeau from one of the pages to light the King 
as he walked before him — " en reculant et sans tourner le dos. " 
137 



NOTES Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy 

2^ IV. ii. 52. "Selon I'usage de Louis XIIL, faire arreter 
quelqu'un pour crime d'6tat, et le faire mourir, I'etait a peu pr^s 
le raeme chose." — Le Clerc. 

32 IV. ii. 97. Like Cromwell and Rienzi, Richelieu appears 
to have been easily moved to tears. The Queen Mother, who put 
the hardest interpretation on that humane weakness, which is 
natural with very excitable temperaments, said that " II pleurait 
quand il voulait." I may add to those who may be inclined to 
imagine that Richelieu appears in parts of this scene too dejected 
for consistency with so imperious a character that it is recorded 
of him that " quand ses afifaires ne reussissoient pas, il se trou- 
voit abattu et epouvante, et quand il obtenoit ce qu'il souhaitoit, 
il etoit fier et insultant. " 

3' V. iii. 20. See in "Cinq Mars," Vol. V., the striking and 
brilliant chapter from which the interlude of the Secretaries is 
borrowed. 

'* V. iii. 58. The passion of the drama requires this catastro- 
phe for Baradas. He however survived his disgrace, though 
stripped of all his rapidly- acquired fortunes ; and the daring that 
belonged to his character won him distinction in foreign service. 
He returned to France after Richelieu's death, but never re- 
gained the same court influence. He had taken the vows of a 
Knight of Malta, and Louis made him a Prior ! 

^^ V. iii. 64. The sudden resuscitation of Richelieu (not to 
strain too much on the real passion which supports him in this 
scene) is in conformance with the more dissimulating part of his 
character. The extraordinary mobility of his countenance (lat- 
terly so deathlike, save when the mind spoke in the features) 
always lent itself to stage effect of this nature. The Queen 
138 



Richelieu ; or, the Conspiracy notes 

Mother said of him, that she had seen him one moment so feeble, 
cast down, and "semimort," that he seemed on the point of 
giving up the ghost — and the next moment he would start up 
full of animation, energy, and life. 

^^ V. iii. 103. The image and the sentiment in the concluding 
lines are borrowed from a passage in one of the writings attributed 
to the Cardinal 



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